Steve Mizerak's Complete Book of Pool

My 2 first books on pool were this one and Mosconi's Winning Pocket Billiards. Miz's book has some good insight into the contemporary scene (1990) and history of the game. There is also some basic instructional sections on technique and a nice section on selecting equipment/accessories. This may not be the most in-depth in comparison to Byrne's Book of Pool & Billiards, or Capelle's Play your Best Pool; but as an overview, it is well written and entertaining. For strategy and tactics, in addition to Byrne and Capelle, I recommend Martin's 99 Critical shots in Pool. Mosconi's book from 1965 was all you had, or one of the few books out on pool in those days; it is a major influence on guys like Capelle and Byrne.

Though not nearly as in-depth as Byrne's Advanced (or Play Your Best Pool, and a few other books), this is definitely Mizerak's best published work to date, and you will learn a few things from it that are not covered by the other writers of such books. My strategy is to get and reads LOTS of these books, because no one author touches on every aspect, and long-time pool champ Mizerak has plenty to add, especially for newbie players, as well as experienced bar players who are not well-read on various nonobvious aspects of the game.