The ABCs of Bridge: Clear, Up-to-Date Instruction on Standard Bidding, Play and Defense for Beginners and Those Who Want to Take a Fresh L

Good book that covers the basics but I would encourage rank beginner bridge players like me to take a lesson with a good teacher who will make the game ccome alive. The book made much more sense to me after I had one lesson from a dynamic teacher (Gail Greenberg) who explained the game's goals in terms that I could understand--bridge is like a war where you and your partner are allies and where communications are limited.

very useful for beginners and all players could benefit from reading it again

This is a good introduction to bridge, which covers enough bidding and card play (i.e. declarer and defensive play) that you can at least get to the table and understand the basics of all facets of bridge. Needless to say, as an introduction to a complex game, it won't make you an expert, but that's not its goal. My only objection to this book is that a feature of its bidding system is outdated (it treats raises to the three level as game-forcing instead of limit-raises). For an introduction without outdatedness, there is Eddie Kantar's "Bridge for Dummies". The disadvantages to Kantar's book are that it's a bit longwinded, and that it does not contain quizzes to help reinforce understanding.

I've always thought William Root's books were very good, so I was glad to see his new offering. I'll be using in a small class for beginning players. It is so important to get new players off on the right foot, and it is far too easy to scare them away with too many gadgets or an unreadable book. The system the book teaches is a fairly standard modern system, although my opinion is that limit raises in majors should now be viewed as standard (the book mentions limit raises, but advises people to begin with forcing raises). That's a pretty small and debatable issue in an otherwise excellent book.