Bridge: Techniques and Tips from the Masters -- 4,249 Diagrammed Hands and Plays

This is the meatiest bridge book I've ever seen. It is densely packed with solid information on every page, on all aspects of the game, and almost none of it for the beginner. I am nowhere near expert so I don't know how much of it will be "old hat" to them, but it's perfect for anyone wanting to leave the novice category and willing to spend a lot of time to do it. The book is divided into 12 sections by several different authors--6 on bidding, 3 on declarer play, and 3 on defense. Section 12 (deceptive play by defenders) is almost worth the price of the book by itself. It feels like a tiny sliver of pages at the back, but the scope and variety of the ideas are stunning. You can spend half an hour getting to the bottom of a couple paragraphs. The bidding sections require you to like 4-card majors, but aside from that they take a thorough look at ACOL from all angles, covering the thought processes behind "ordinary" bidding as well as numerous conventions. And the multiple authors frequently disagree with each other, allowing you to assess the merits of a particular method and tailor your bidding system. The section on slam bidding will even make you laugh a few times. The drawback of this book is the hideous amount of typos, probably as many as one per page. The typos come in all shapes and sizes, and frequently inhibit properly understanding the material. I remember being puzzled over a player making a 2-level overcall on Kxxxx before I realized that an ace was missing.