Apparently the roads to both Hell and Marvel's Civil War are paved with good intentions... 
 This collection pulls issues from several comics to tell essentially three stories that lay the groundwork for the upcoming conflict. The first shows a previously unknown piece of Marvel history in which the Kree/Skrull War that nearly destroyed Earth so rattled Tony Stark that he gathered a small group of influential figures to convince them that the superheros and mutants need to organize and join forces to prevent those kinds of events. When that idea doesn't fly they instead form a cabal to share information and address problems like the Hulk's rampages, and just to make this a dream come true for those who love conspiracy theories this group is known as the Illuminati. 
 The second story features the Fantastic Four battling Doctor Doom who thinks he can take Mjolnir after Thor has died. (Or at least died as much as anyone ever does in a comic book.) The final piece involves Stark recruiting Peter Parker to work as his aide when Tony has to testify in front of congress about the idea of superhero registration, and Tony provides him with a souped-up Spidey suit as part of the deal. 
 Because this is a prelude to Civil War there's not a lot of resolution in this, but it does provide some solid build-up for what comes next. The stuff with the Illuminati does a lot to explain Tony's fears and concerns that drive him to his conclusions, and the issues with Spider-Man, who'd prove a pivotal figure in the story later, really establishes the idea that Tony is willing to pull some seriously shady stuff when he's convinced he's right and the stakes are this high. The FF story is OK as a punch-em-up with Doom is at his bombastic best, but that piece seems a bit thin. 
 Overall, it makes for a decent prelude to Civil War, but it feels a bit padded.