Enterprise Books

I highly recommend this book for any owning or purchasing a powersports dealership. The information is awesome.

Great book with alot of common sense! Especially when common sense seems to be on back order!

If John Wyckoff's words were any more clear and easy to understand, they'd have to be injected by IV. The last thing a Powersports Dealer or his employees need, after a hard day in the showroom / shop, is to try and decipher text written for Harvard professors.

Wyckoff presents instruction on marketing, advertising, image, sales, team building, supplier relations, service departments, websites and much more in bite size chapters. There is no need to rush through this book. Take some time and let the author's forty-years of Powersport's marketing and merchandising experience soak in.

Because Wyckoff's book is so well organized and written, he puts the ball right back into your lap. Do you have what it takes? Do you have the desire to improve your career or business? If so, kick it out of neutral and get going!

I highly recommend this book for anyone managing a motorcycle, powersports, marine or even bicycle dealership. It's also helpful for any small retail business.

A lot of the time retailers and dealerships mess up on the little things. Things like how listen to the customer. You have to learn what to react to from the customer and when not to say too much. The book tells you how to read people. It helps you understand how to create a good relationship that keeps the customer coming back to the dealership for new helmets, jackets, pipes and other add-ons.

MYOB2 is perfect for dealer principals. Maybe the biggest benefit will be for dealership staff, such as service managers, parts managers and general managers looking for career advancement -- maybe even hoping to own a dealership some day.

As with all books, there are some great nuggets of wisdom in Wyckoff's guide to PROFITABLE powersports dealerships. I took away several ideas that are worth many times the price of admission.

Wyckoff even used one of my favorite lines, that common sense is not all that common! Consider this a great book of ckecklists. Lists of basics that every dealership needs to review. Stuff that one might just forget when they get busy.

Don't get so busy that you fail to check this book out.

It is important to note that this excellent book by John B. Stuttard, former Chairman and CEO of PricewaterhouseCoopers China, carries amazing wisdom within that remains as true today about China as when it was written, all the way back in 2000. The outlined principles and shared experiences about Mainland China are timeless. So readers concerned that books written even a few years ago about China will quickly become out-of-date, in this case absolutely need not worry. In fact, I have read this book several times over the years and it was the single biggest source of inspiration for the book I co-authored about China, Know China Business: The Insider's Guide to Doing Business Successfully in China.

There are a number of case studies shared in this book that are written by CEOs and other top-level executives from some of the most well reputed multinational companies (MNCs) active in China. The level of honestly about their personal China experiences expressed by these top executives is truly astounding and not to be found in any other book I have read about China, while the lessons learned can also be applied immediately by any Western business person operating in the Middle Kingdom, whether they are a novice or old China hand. I am eager to read the more recently written Operation China: From Strategy to Execution by top China executives from consulting competitor McKinsey. However, I would be extremely surprised if the information gleaned from within could match the wisdom shared by Stuttard in The New Silk Road.

Some readers will already be familiar with Tim Clissold's cautionary tale, "Mr. China," about the difficulty of doing business in China. But, "The New Silk Road," offers a very different perspective and different kind of cautionary tale about the "early" days of doing business in China in the mid-to-late Nineties.
Whereas Fishman focuses on his more "entrepreneurial" efforts to revamp factories and set up new industries in the Chinese countryside, Stuttard, as a consultant for PriceWaterhouse, offers a more "professional" perspective. Thus, each chapter is much less autobiographical than Clissold's book, being organized around individual case studies, focusing on the major companies (AIG, Unilever, Bayer, etc.) trying to create a foothold in a hot economy.
Stuttard's overriding theme and question is: Why do senior managers with 20 years of success in the States fail so badly in China?
The answers range from lack of support at the head office, political barriers, confusion about the nature of legal contracts in China, to overblown expectations on the part of the Type A manager.
For a complete perspective on doing business in China, I believe that "The New Silk Road" should be read in tandem with "Mr. China."
With this book, Stuttard has done hopeful managers in China an incredible service.

Almost everyone who knows little about China is enthralled by the opportunity to sell products to all those people who live there. Those with a little more knowledge also get excited about having products made for export from Mainland China. Those with still more knowledge look forward to outsourcing services to China. Beyond that, some speculate that Mandarin Chinese will even become the dominant language of the Internet, and see amazing opportunities to buuild new economy businesses from a Chinese base.

But those speculations all beg the question: What should your company be doing today?

The New Silk Road is the first book I have read that reflects the views of my friends who have 20 plus years of experience doing business there. As such, it counters much of the overoptimism that makes American companies too anxious to expand there, and leads to mistakes that hurt short and long term results.

Any company that is considering its first stake in China, or re-evaluating the stakes it has today, should be sure that those involved read this book.

The key lessons are that company goals must be more carefully considered, partners chosen more thoughtfully, expectations of near-term profits lowered, a focus shifted to developing Chinese management and workers, and a longer-term perspective taken on developing and maintaining relationships. Perhaps the most fundamental point of the book is that things are very uncertain in China. With lots of effort you can reduce the uncertainty, but it will still be higher than in almost any other country. So there will be a premium placed on making decisions that will be good ones regardless of what happens in the Chinese business environment.

When you do your homework, you will find that China has more competition than almost any other country and lots of excess capacity. A small percentage of the people can afford to buy what you want to sell. Regulation and bureaucracy will keep you out of the best markets for what you want to do. The rules will change tomorrow. Everything will take a long time. Political tensions among your home nation and China will be used against you in business. Sounds challenging, doesn't it?

While China is underdeveloped economically and in entrepreneurial and business skills, the people are well educated and know a lot of things you do not. For one thing, they know the many different markets in China and how to do business there. They have local connections that you need. They also have skills in negotiation and strategy that you may not have. So seek out how to make the best of both worlds, rather than just plan to do business like you do in your home country. In fact, your product will probably have to be customized for the Chinese market.

Mr. Stuttard does an excellent job in his essay, "Reflections on China at the End of the Second Millennium," of summarizing the lessons from the case histories. Be sure to reread this essay after you finish the book. It will help put the case histories in perspective for you.

He has done well in choosing a variety of case histories, that reflect varying levels of success. The book is especially lucky to have the perspectives of comapnies with a great deal of Chinese experience like American International Group, John Swire, United Technologies, and Shell. In each case, either the company's CEO or the operating head in China is the person interviewed.

The people who run the business in China for you will be very vulnerable. When unpredictable shifts cause results to fall, their heads will be on the chopping block in some companies. That's not a good idea, because the set-backs will often not be due to any fault of their own.

You will also get helpful hints on the best ways to recruit talent, conduct training, and integrate expatriates.

After you have finished reading and enjoying this valuable book, I suggest that also consider where else the lessons of this book apply. I suspect that your success in many other parts of the world would be enhanced if you employed these lessons there, as well. Also, how else can you overcome communications stalls among your various operations and with your various stakeholders?

Focus on what needs to be done now to develop your short and long term potential!

China has made such enormous strides towards liberalising its economy over the past decade that it is now the world's second largest recipient of foreign investment after the United States. Yet, in some very important ways, Chinese customs, practices, and values remain alien to Western business thinking and practice as they ever were. As many a hapless expatriate manager has discovered to their cost, gaining a foothold in the vast Chinese market can be an uphill battle on a slippery slope of tradition, conflicting objectives, bureaucratic wrangling, ever-shifting laws and regulations, and regional differences. Despite this, as the stories chronicled in this insider's guide to doing business in China demonstrate, it is a battle that can be and is being won.

The New Silk Road is based on extensive interviews conducted by the author with business leaders who have many years of experience with the country. It features a series of lively narratives in which these experts share their insights into and observations of all the important aspects of doing business in China. These are important lessons they've learned about everything from making sense of, and marketing to, the patchwork of striking different regions that make up China, to building trust and negotiating with the Chinese.

This long-awaited insider's view of doing business in China informs you of the pitfalls and tells you what you need to know to succeed in the twenty-first century's great new business frontier.

John B. Stuttard is a Senior Partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers. From 1994 to 1999, he was Chairman and CEO of PricewaterhouseCoopers China, operating in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Dalian. In his 32-year career with PricewaterhouseCoopers, he has also worked with the UK Government's Cabinet Office think tank advising on privatisation, and for services to Finnish industry was made a Knight First Class of the Order of the Lion of Finland.

See also my review of: CHINA'S FUTURES Scenarios for the World's Fasting Growing Economy, Ecology, and Society James Ogilvy & Peter Schwartz with Joe Flower Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2000 ISBN 0-7879-5200-1

This short book consists of the reflections of John B. Stuttard, former Chairman and CEO of PricewaterhouseCoopers China (1994-1999), and summaries of his interviews with 11 top executives working in Western companies in China. Each interview runs 8-10 pages and includes a short bio of the exec along with a quick snapshot of the company's current Sino-standing. The first chapter is Stuttard's and is a fine read that perfectly sets the context and perspective of the 21st century business environment in the country destined to one day overtake America as the world's single largest consumer economy.

Everyone featured in the book, including the author, is an "Old China Hand". Several of the companies are legacy firms, those with pre-WWII and pre-Mao histories who returned after the country turned face forward once again. Others are case study JV's with relatively short, 10-20 year pasts. Each chapter is compelling.

There is some flag waving for the Chinese. These are people who have listened to countless stories at countless banquets about the Chinese fear of chaos and the cultural scar tissue of 150 years (roughly 1790-1940) of shameless behavior by colonial minded Westerners in China. These stories are, after all, Inculcation 101 for any Westerner attempting even superficial commerce or business in the Middle Kingdom. Let's not forget the Chinese did a pretty good job of creating 25+ years of chaos themselves during the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution. The Japanese were several degrees beyond shameless during World War II. These events are much fresher in the Chinese consciousness than King George III, yet he and Emperor Qianlong still seem to dominate every conversation that explains and/or justifies Chinese desire to top down control all macro and micro aspects of their economy, firms and even routine business transactions.

Still, there is sage wisdom on every page. The book is best when the execs tell what they did in China to be successful. Some of the common themes are the need for good local managers and training programs, a corporate culture of equality with your Chinese partners regardless of equity division, the success of long term strategies versus short term. The deliberate love each exec feels for what they are doing and, in some ways, for China, is clear. The awesome change taking place in this country is also reflected in these interviews. A difference in attitude and tone can be seen between execs in consumer product industries versus sensitive and still restricted ones like oil.

Very little happens fast in China, except the neckbreaking pace at which Western funds are being spent to form infrastructure and modern physical assets. These are the people who have footed a noteworthy part of the bill. They have alot of value to say and this is a rare peak at thinking at their rung of the international corporate business ladder.

For those of us coming from an MS world, it helps with any new software to have assistance to overcome the learning curve. OOoSwitch jumpstarts the "trial and error" learning curve methodology by showing the differences and similarities between MS Office and OpenOffice.org.

The PDF feature in OOo would be reason enough to endure the learning curve, but OOoSwitch makes the transition fairly painless. By pointing out tasks I've already mastered in MS Office, I'm becoming reasonbly proficent in OOo.

Good book for experienced MS Office users and noncomputer types.

Yes it does answer questions for those that are switching from MS Office. More to the point, in doing so fulfills the need for a very good "how to" for OOo.
Even though it's becoming a bit dated, there is much still relevant to todays Open Office program. We can sit around waiting for the software author's (Solveig Haugland) publisher (Prentice Hall) to see the necessity for the long anticipated OpenOffice.org 2.x Resource Kit. In the mean time this book as well as some of the other published books on the subject actually can help and do so well. The price is ridiculous even though Amazon has the best price. You might try one of the second-hand sellers with good reputations on Amazon Marketplace. READ DESCRIPTIONS, READ FEEDBACK. My free advice / open source contribution. Even with shipping you'll save.
John Row
in1ear

I've been a unapologetic Microsoft Word fanatic since 1991. But OpenOffice 2.x got good fast, and with its adoption of the universal and ISO-certified OASIS OpenDocument Format (ODF), suddenly it has the upper hand against Word 2007 -- in format, usability (yes, I said it), and power, having the ability to create documents twice the size of Word 2007. But "OOoSwitch: 501 Things You Want to Know..." demonstrates how OpenOffice can match Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and make switching a breeze. The price is steep, but surprisingly, it's worth every penny to this former Word fanboy.

Few of us have time to read a guide book cover-to-cover, so it's nice to find one that's well-organized. This one is! OpenOffice.org is a new product/project that's still ironing out problems and making improvements. If you can't find what you need within this book, it also gives the website for the reader/user to ask questions and even invites their input.

If you know how to do a task in Word, then you can quickly look up how to do it in Write. The language is simple and easy to use. My Mother liked it so much, that she took my copy.

Pinkston's research and writings are beginning to seriously startle my perspective on the Bible and history. So far this is so logical that it justifies an entire revision of the thought process involving the Bible and history!

Whether you are a Bible scholar, a history buff, or just curious about the world around you and where you fit in; this book will open your eyes to truth that has been hidden for millenniums. It shows where we have been, where we are, and where we are going. It shows what is about to happen to our nation and to the world. Most important of all, it shows what YOU can do to avoid the calamity that is about to fall upon the world. Next to the Bible, this is the most important book you can possibly read. Don't let this opportunity pass you by.

The contents of this amazing book are much more expansive than the title gives it credit. It gives a concise re-telling of so many miraculous Old Testament stories, such that you can follow the descendants of Abraham through ancient history. It also discusses the much disputed subject of Jesus' life between the age of 12 and 30, and does so with abundant, practically indisputable evidence/support. It traces the beginnings of the now modern nations of Spain, Ireland, Scotland, Denmark, England, America, and more. It connects the world of the Bible to the world of today with tangible proof such as the Pillar of David (from resting under David's head to resting under Queen Elizabeth's seat). It even manages to delve into Biblical prophecy concerning the future of our country and of the world that, although so relevant and exciting, is almost unheard of by the vast majority of people that it concerns. This book answers more questions than I have thought to ask, and leaves you both with a new found feeling of importance and connection to the Bible (your "lost national identity"), as well as the desire to take a long look at yourself to see if you believe you are doing all that you should with that knowledge of the past, your part in the present, and to prepare for the future that is coming. If you haven't yet - start reading!

A very interesting & researched book. I never knew who was here in america before the indians untill reading this book.Although the last chapters paint a very bleak picture for the united states it shows our futures are very, very bright.

Book shows the history of our nation and the direction we are going (per the Old and New Testaments). Reequired reading for those who believe and also for those who are skeptical--

The author seems to have "bought" into Public Key Infrastructure completely. Many chapters have a simliar formula:

1. Explain background on the compliance issue or standard

2. Then explain why PKI is so great and solves a majority of the problems with the particular issue being discussed.

This leaves a bit to be desired in some cases as the compliance-heavy discussions really move past PKI and into extremely detailed market compliance issues. This book will be useful for individuals looking for information having to do with Financial, e-Government, and Health Care compliance issues but not necessarily with PKI implementations for Enterprise organizations.

I found this book very useful. With other material in the field the author did a great job.
If you planned to roll out a PKI just take a moment and take a deep breath before doing that and consider all the do's and don't's. Ask yourself the question if PKI is really the only solution for your problem. This book helps you get that perspective. Good style of writing, clear and consistent. Certainly worth buying. Don't assume this is a deep technical drill down on PKI and you're okay!

Rob Faber, CISSP, MCSE, Infrastructure Architect
The Netherlands

Overall I found this book to cover the key concepts of PKI and its practical use fairly well. The case studies help me relate to how things are actually being done. My issue with other books is that they are too theoretical. Also the book gives me a strong case for expanding my PKI deployment as I can cite other successes (worldwide).

Good stuff on PKI: technical and business angles. Compliance was the main reason I took at look at this book, since HIPAA affects us day to day. I did appreciate the introduction to the technology (with technical depth). One thing I did really like it was that (to large degree) the book was vendor neutral. Some of the books through the RSA label have some spin. Definitely worth adding this book to the security collection.

This book covers a good chunk of digital security strategies with a focus on digital certificates (PKI). The first part of the book covers the PKI basics including technical and business topics. The next part of the book goes over the compliance laws (in relevant vertical areas) and how PKI (and compatible technologies) help resolve them. The last part of the book goes over resources and specific products/companies.

What I really liked about this book is it focus on how solve real problems such as compliance issues. Plus the case studies and specific vendor references make this is a good book to use for actual implementations.

Finally, this is a recent book on PKI and I have not seen too much on this topic as of late. The international coverage in the book also does well to keep the material relevant and current.

I would say this book would be ideal for security consultants as well as decision makers doing anything related to digital certificates and/or ecommerce in general.

I found Bruce's book to be a very simplistic approach to a perceived complex issue!! He captures Thoreau's way of thinking..Simplify, simplify, simplify!!! His words literally jumped off the pages to resonate within my soul! Great job! When's the next book??

Wow - It's not often that a book motivates me so much that I write an online review and tell virtually everyone I know to buy it. An easy read, Bruce Garrabrandt offers a profound view of human nature in a way that no one has done before. The Power of Having Desire will, in short order, become a staple for college grads as well as those who need to regroup and get themselves out of a rut. Stop wasting time and go buy this book!

This book is easy to read, very interesting and filled with great truths on the subject of how to succeed. I am an avid reader of Zigler, Maxwell, Gerber, Collins, etc. and personally do motivational speaking. I plan to use this book as part of my next seminar and have gotten permission from the author to do so. Anyone interested in self improvement and achieving success should read this book. It is filled with great ideas and takes away the excuses we often use to rationalize our status in life. Bruce has a very easy to read style of writing and shares many wonderful examples of real life successes. I studied the book as I read it. I could hardly put it down until I finished reading it.

This book is as entertaining and enjoyable as it is enlightening. The opportunity to 'peek' into the lives of so many individuals, famous and not-so-famous, who share the common thread of desire, perseverance and success is a truly unique yet contagious way to discover your own desire.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to start any endeavor or just needs a boost of confidence. I wish this book was available back when I was in college! Throughout parts of the book Bruce highlights the successes of many people who we tend to forget were ordinary people like ourselves. The meat & potatoes of this book provides the reader with easy steps to implement into our daily lives which enable us to achieve any of the goals we desire.

An excellent book! I had a hard time putting it down. The plot has enough twists to keep the reader's interest, but more compelling is Ms. Adair's clear presentation of how God really does work in our lives. Give this book to your non-Christian friends - it could be just what they need to change their lives.

Great read. I couldn't put it down. I was able to really relate to the charecters and their situations. Not only did this book show faith working through other people, I saw how it also works in me. Buy this book and give it a read! You will not regret the purchase.

This is a good comfort book. I read Saving Hollywood during the busiest part of my freshman year and I discovered that it is one of those books that once you read the first page you can't stop. It's like a great can of pringles. The characters are loveable and the plot is engaging. I am looking forward to Miss Adair's next book!

An enjoyable read. Ms. Adair has spun a wonderful tale with characters you'll just love. There's a good balance between fun, lighthearted interactions and deeper emotional and spiritual dinamics. The mix of Holly and her friends' "everyday" college life and the tention of her past coming back to haunt her make this a fun and engaging book. You'll laugh at Holly and her friends, but it's the bigger picture that keeps you turning the pages.

I am amazed that a person can create so many characters with such different personalities and bring them all together in a concise and logical manner. It is beyond a person has years of training in this art and the benefit of a teacher or good friend to help them that they could even think to write a book such as this. This book keeps your attention in the developement of these characters. It is hard to sit down and leave the book because you are excited about what might happen in the next chapter. Although I am a poor reader and do not much care for novels, especially Christian novels, I was completely consumed by the flow of this book.

~Jerry

Learn from the master himself, the one and the only NAPOLEAN HILL! Mr Carnegie's challenge and suggested affirmation to Dr Hill alone is worth the price of these cassettes. I used a variation and doubled my sales in one month! These cassettes and THINK & GROW RICH Provide all of the personal development strategies you'll ever need to succeed!

In this great audio program, Napolean Hill shares the secrets he learned from Carnegie, Ford, Edison and other legendary giants of the early 20th century.--- and the common set of universal principles that Hill discovered at the root of their success.

On this two tape set you will learn how to:

* Unleash the power of positive thinking

* Gain an unflitching belief in yourself and others

* Motivate others with your enthusiasm and faith

* Develop mental skils

* Transform your ideas into realized accomplishments

NAPOLEAN HILL also ends the series with his prayer and a special challenge he recieved from Andrew Carnegie.

So much powerful information on just 2 tapes. Good stuff. Thank you Napolean!

These cassettes need but one word; AWESOME! It is obvious that to me that all of today's so-called motivational gurus have taken a page from Napoleon Hill. I understand now that all I ever needed to know about personal achievement and life are contained somewhere within Dr. Hill's Philosophy. I hate to think of all the money I could have saved with those other books and tapes.

I like listening to the inflections and style of that old Napoleon Hill. Keep in mind that the audio is kinda rough to listen to because it was recorded a long time ago. The ideas and thoughts of this person will live on forever.

A tape that you will want to listen to time and time again. Listening to Napoleon Hill himself is mesmerising. His story, his findings and his subsequent philosophy is so easy to understand and even easier to put into action. Good Luck to all who heed his advice !

This is the perfect book for any SEC fan. I couldn't put it down and I plan to give it as a gift to all of my friends.

Written by Sam King
Advocate Sportswriter
10/29/2002

GOOD READ: "SEC Sports Quotes," a book of quotes compiled by Chris Warner, is a good read for sports fans in general and LSU fans in particular. LSU Athletic Director Skip Bertman, often quoted in the book, might say it would also be a good book in Starkville -- if it was all pictures. Bertman, who joked about Starkville and Mississippi State in his years as a baseball coach, is quoted often in the book. A couple: "Starkville is an Indian word for trailer park. "In Starkville, there is only one beauty parlor and they only give estimates." Present Tigers baseball coach Smoke Laval gets in his shot. "Who's the loneliest man in Starkville? The Tooth Fairy." Actually, Bertman loves Starkville and may soon have LSU fans parking their motor homes there and being bused to games in Tiger Stadium. - Sam King, The Advocate

Written by Greg Langley
Book Editor, Baton Rouge Advocate
02/12/2003

Sports zingers Sports fans may enjoy local author Chris Warner's latest effort, a compilation of quotes from Southeastern Conference sports notables, SEC Sports Quotes (CEW Enterprises, [$$$]paperback). The book is a reminder that some of the best wits in America have been, and are, coaches and players. Take LSU athletic director Skip Bertman's observations on Starkville, Miss., the hometown of rival Mississippi State. "In Starkville there is only one beauty parlor, and they only give estimates," Bertman zings. And: "Starkville is an Indian word for trailer park." And: "NASA is moving the space program to Starkville because it has no atmosphere." Current LSU baseball coach Smoke Laval pokes a little fun at Mississippi State too: "Who's the loneliest man in Starkville? The Tooth Fairy." Of course the current master of the one-liner is South Carolina coach Lou Holtz, who said, "The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely the one who dropped it." He also said, "The only time you can start at the top is when you're digging a hole." But the one man most associated with football in the Southeast was Bear Bryant, former Alabama head football coach. There are plenty of gems from Bryant in this collection, but none more revealing than "Be good, or be gone." This is an enjoyable collection that will provide fodder for many an after-dinner speaker. Some of these quotes may even end up in Sunday sermons, but most of them will be repeated on Saturdays in football season. Greg Langley, The Baton Rouge Advocate, 2002

Written by Greg Langley
Book Editor, Baton Rouge Advocate

Sports zingers - Sports fans may enjoy Baton Rouge author Chris Warner's latest effort, a compilation of quotes from Southeastern Conference sports notables, SEC Sports Quotes (CEW Enterprises, $...paperback). The book is a reminder that some of the best wits in America have been, and are, coaches and players. Take LSU athletic director Skip Bertman's observations on Starkville, Miss., the hometown of rival Mississippi State. "In Starkville there is only one beauty parlor, and they only give estimates," Bertman zings. And: "Starkville is an Indian word for trailer park." And: "NASA is moving the space program to Starkville because it has no atmosphere." Current LSU baseball coach Smoke Laval pokes a little fun at Mississippi State too: "Who's the loneliest man in Starkville? The Tooth Fairy." Of course the current master of the one-liner is South Carolina coach Lou Holtz, who said, "The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely the one who dropped it." He also said, "The only time you can start at the top is when you're digging a hole." But the one man most associated with football in the Southeast was Bear Bryant, former Alabama head football coach. There are plenty of gems from Bryant in this collection, but none more revealing than "Be good, or be gone." This is an enjoyable collection that will provide fodder for many an after-dinner speaker. Some of these quotes may even end up in Sunday sermons, but most of them will be repeated on Saturdays in football season. Greg Langley, The Baton Rouge Advocate, 2002

I am a big SEC fan but I never knew that some of this stuff was said. Skip Bertman is really hard on Starkville in this book, but it's a real entertaining and easy read, especially if you are on a trip. I bought it in an airport bookstore and I finished it on a flight from Atlanta to New Orleans. This book should be a must-have for any SEC fan. I HIGHLY recommend it as a coffee table gift.

I thought my opinion on this book, although favorable, would not change. I was pleasantly surprised by the depth and quality the changes that were made from the earlier edition. I feel that chess books ideally should have the following characteristics; honesty, quality anotations, good explanations in prose, usefull topics and a well thought out layout. This book has all of these qualities and more. This book is most useful for those player who already study a lot and love to study. What John Nunn gives you is how Grandmasters look at positions and the amount they calculate before making their moves. It takes an ambious and diligent player to go over even one game. This book is very rare indeed.

I have both 'Secrets of Grandmaster Chess' and the earlier 'Secrets of Grandmaster Play' that Nunn co-authored with Griffiths. SGC has about 120 pages more than SGP. Much of this difference is spent in narrating Nunn's autobiographical and tournament details, which is itself quite readable. Some extra games and snippets of games are also given. Some of the analysis has been corrected and amplified, on the basis of flaws found by Dvoretsky and Yusupov, and also by checking the analysis using Fritz4. The book has been designed as a prequel to 'John Nunn's Best Games'. It is a more professional effort than SGP. However, it has to be said that SGP has a more pedagogic slant, and is more likely to be useful to the bumbling club player trying to improve his play (i.e. myself). This is because of the input of Griffiths, a worthy chess pedagogue whose every book I've bought.

But coming back to SGC. This book can be unequivocally recommended as a top-flight book. These are the games and notes of a strong, modern Grandmaster who plays mainline openings, and has a preference for complex, tactical chess. Nunn has to be considered the strongest, most professional chess writer currently around.

The book is most likely to be useful to players who are rated at least 1800 or 1900. The earlier SGP could be used with profit by players at least 1700, or perhaps even 1600.

This is a thoroughly revised update of the 1985 collaboration between John Nunn and PC Griffiths. It analyzes 24 games played between 1974 and 1985, in which Nunn took on and beat some chess giants including the Soviet grandmasters Polugaevsky, Vaganian, Korchnoy and Tal. The Polugaevsky game, played at Skara, Sweden in 1980, saw Nunn tear his opponent to shreds in just 32 moves - with the Black pieces, no less! The author describes this Bobby Fischer-like exploit as "a veritable witches' cauldron of tactics", and gives extensive notes showing the various possibilities at each move.

Nunn is one of the world's best annotators, thanks to his excellent calculating ability and merciless quest for objectivity. There is much to be learned from this book and "John Nunn's Best Games", which takes up the tale in 1985.

I understand that this is a book for the more serious player. Nevertheless, I (being a 1500-1600 player) enjoys it very much and, at least imagines, that I get playing beneits from reading it.

Of course, it is very detailed, but I think I can follow the discussions quite well. And, you don't have to go through every detail if you don't have the time. Sometimes, I also read it in bed before I go to sleep.

The anecdotes placed between the games are also worth reading.

I highly recommend this book!

I agree: Nunn's book is intense study material. Less-experienced players (like myself 10 years ago) will find it hard going because Nunn has not written a simplified "tutorial" work. What he does is extensively annotate various games he played throughout his chess career discussing openings, planning, tactics, etc. His notes are thorough, variations numerous, and the lessons learned important. I have to admit: I had an early edition of this book ten years ago, and gave it away. It was too hard. I wanted something light. Maybe I was lazy. Anyway, now I really enjoY this book, but be warned: it demands attention.