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Rating: 
Summary: One of the best.
Review: This is the most thorough and readable book on standard bidding I've encountered. Not for complete beginners, but an excellent resource for anyone who knows the basics of bridge and is looking to become a lot better.
Rating:
Summary: The Language of Bidding
Review: Bill Root is acknowledged as the country's best bridge teacher, and this book is a clear presentation of the modern methods of Standard American bidding. He makes the study of bridge a pleasure. The simplified approach will teach you how to value your hand and modify the value as the bidding progresses. Illustrative examples are given on how to handle almost every situation. 1986 Bridge Book of the Year - already regarded as a classic.
Rating: 
Summary: "Standard bidding" would have been a better title.
Review: It has been about 20 years since I have played party bridge. Just to get into the swing of things, I purchased "Commonsense Bidding" by William S. Root. This was a tremendous refresher for me in terms of bidding, and approaches to common problems in bidding. Although this book does not cover Jacoby Transfers, (which, incidentally I do not use) the common thread is to allow you to achieve the most natural bid. Stayman, the artificial club bid, is also detailed within this book. I had never used Stayman, but it seems to fit within my comfort zone, even though you can not show a true club bid. The only way is to bid one club, then three clubs, or bid three clubs right off the bat. Either way has its detriments, which I can live with because of all the good information that describes your hand. This book is truly geared to the better-than-novice-but-not-really-advanced player. If I could find a player that uses the concepts outlined in this book, I know that we would reach game, or slam, whenever we had the chance and certainly keep us out of trouble. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Straight-forward bidding
Review: It has been about 20 years since I have played party bridge. Just to get into the swing of things, I purchased "Commonsense Bidding" by William S. Root. This was a tremendous refresher for me in terms of bidding, and approaches to common problems in bidding. Although this book does not cover Jacoby Transfers, (which, incidentally I do not use) the common thread is to allow you to achieve the most natural bid. Stayman, the artificial club bid, is also detailed within this book. I had never used Stayman, but it seems to fit within my comfort zone, even though you can not show a true club bid. The only way is to bid one club, then three clubs, or bid three clubs right off the bat. Either way has its detriments, which I can live with because of all the good information that describes your hand. This book is truly geared to the better-than-novice-but-not-really-advanced player. If I could find a player that uses the concepts outlined in this book, I know that we would reach game, or slam, whenever we had the chance and certainly keep us out of trouble. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: "Standard bidding" would have been a better title.
Review: Standard bidding was well explained. If you just want to learn/refresh yourself on standard bidding, that's great. But forget it if you want explanations, tradeoffs, etc., then this book falls short. I felt like a series of point ranges were presented to me, a series of hundreds of rules. But I got the sense that there was an underlying logic to the various bids that was just not being explained. A reverse used to be considered non-forcing but now is considered forcing. That's nice. But why? Don't call a book "commonsense" if you just lay out a series of rules and don't explain them.
Rating:
Summary: A complete guide to the language of bidding
Review: The most modern and complete guide to the language of bidding. Bill's simplified approach will teach you how to value your hand and modify the value as the bidding progresses. Gives illustrative examples on how to handle almost every situation. 1986 Bridge Book of the Year - already regarded as a classic.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent no-nonsense advice, but a bit dated
Review: This book on bridge bidding is targeted at the advanced novice to intermediate player. It's full of straightfoward advice and examples to help you improve your game. The only knock I have against this book is that it's slightly outdated. Bridge experts' understanding has improved in the 20 years since the manuscript was developed. For example, weak 2 bids are almost univerally accepted as better than strong 2's now, but this book only mentions weak 2's in passing as an experimental technique. Overall it's still a very good book; it just needs to be read with a critical eye and an awareness of other sources.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent no-nonsense advice, but a bit dated
Review: This book on bridge bidding is targeted at the advanced novice to intermediate player. It's full of straightfoward advice and examples to help you improve your game. The only knock I have against this book is that it's slightly outdated. Bridge experts' understanding has improved in the 20 years since the manuscript was developed. For example, weak 2 bids are almost univerally accepted as better than strong 2's now, but this book only mentions weak 2's in passing as an experimental technique. Overall it's still a very good book; it just needs to be read with a critical eye and an awareness of other sources.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent overview
Review: While not for complete beginners, I'd strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in improving their bidding. This is -not- a book on bidding theory. Root provides a structured overview of how to open/respond/rebid/etc with hands of varying point count and distribution and includes many sample hands. The book is extremely straightforward (and at times a little dry) but covers everything the novice/intermediate player needs to know. If you learn the material in this book thoroughly, you'll be better off than the vast majority of bridge players in the world. My only criticism is that, to more advanced players, Root's style can come off as slightly pedantic. However I firmly believe that a player needs to know what the rules are before he can learn when to ignore/how to bend them. Knowing the material in this book is a crucial first step to become an effective, flexible, and successful bidder.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent overview
Review: While not for complete beginners, I'd strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in improving their bidding. This is -not- a book on bidding theory. Root provides a structured overview of how to open/respond/rebid/etc with hands of varying point count and distribution and includes many sample hands. The book is extremely straightforward (and at times a little dry) but covers everything the novice/intermediate player needs to know. If you learn the material in this book thoroughly, you'll be better off than the vast majority of bridge players in the world. My only criticism is that, to more advanced players, Root's style can come off as slightly pedantic. However I firmly believe that a player needs to know what the rules are before he can learn when to ignore/how to bend them. Knowing the material in this book is a crucial first step to become an effective, flexible, and successful bidder.
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