Robin,
Paradox 7 was a pretty good version, though you have to take care to note *which* Paradox 7 you're looking at. If it's Paradox 7 for Windows 3.1 and for Workgroups, then it's Paradox 7.16. Okay, but 16-bit code.
Paradox 7 for Windows 95 and Windows NT (aka Paradox 7.32) is much better, though you'll want to patch it (ftp://ftp.corel.com/pub/Paradox/PdoxWin/pdx7upd4.exe). Mind you, this was the most time-consuming, weird, and difficult patch that Borland ever produced. Read the instructions carefully and make sure you reboot between each and every step.
Once it's patched, it's great, though I'd rather use Paradox 9 or later.
As far as the manuals go, well, let's just say that you're not going to find a version of Paradox with the manuals that the original documentation team thought you really needed unless you're using Paradox 1.0...and belive me, you don't really want to go there.
As a product, Paradox 7 is fine. The documentation...well, let's just say that I held on to my Paradox 5.0 docs for a reason.
See if you can find a copy of Inside Paradox 5.0 for Windows by Rich Wagner (along with some help from others, *cough*).(try
or
Hope this helps...
-- Lance