The New York Times Book of Backgammon

This 1973 book has a lot of the same strategies as Oswald Jacoby's 1970 classic. The book is in easy-to-use lessons and tracks four sample games through early, middle, and end games. There are special lessons on back games, end games, and other miscellaneous situations. Novices and average players will learn a lot from this book. Unfortunately the advice on opening rolls and their replies is now obsolete as is the doubling lesson. If you're looking for a short book so that you can learn the fundamentals in a hurry, this may be the one.