According to one embodiment, an information storage medium comprising a lead-in area, and a data area, wherein the lead-in area includes a control data zone storing physical format information which includes first information common to book types, second information peculiar to a book type, and third information peculiar to each kind of second information. The first information includes byte information indicating the book type and a version number, and the second information includes byte information indicating the major digit of a revision number and a disc indicator.