You have to put the ladder at a wide angle to have straight shelfs, which means you basically have to hang the top from something, otherwise it will slip. You can see on top there is a hinge to hang it.

It is good quality wood and looks nice. However, and it's a big however, the 'shelves' are really narrow depth wise and set at an angle meaning they are completely useless as shelves because everything falls off! Good looks, poor functionality.

Lovely bookcase looks beautiful in my living room highly recommend thanks wowcher