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Rating: 
Summary: Surveys the history, rules and strategies
Review: "Go" is game which was invented in China over 2500 years ago, making it one of the oldest known games in the world, and one which is still being played today. Enjoy reading Peter Shotwell's Go!, a spiffy blend of instruction guide and instruction on theory and play which includes hundreds of diagrams as it surveys the history, rules and strategies of an ancient game.
Rating:
Summary: Surveys the history, rules and strategies
Review: "Go" is game which was invented in China over 2500 years ago, making it one of the oldest known games in the world, and one which is still being played today. Enjoy reading Peter Shotwell's Go!, a spiffy blend of instruction guide and instruction on theory and play which includes hundreds of diagrams as it surveys the history, rules and strategies of an ancient game.
Rating: 
Summary: Not too clear; good history of the game though
Review: As a new Go player, I read this book hoping it would help me figure out what I was supposed to be doing. It covers the basics of the game but I found it not that clear or systematic. I had to pick up another book to really get a grasp of some of the basic strategies, and how to put them together.
The history of the game section, which takes up 1/3 or so of the book on the other hand, was very well written and quite engaging.
In short, if you want to learn basic strategy, there are many better books out there.
Rating:
Summary: Way above average
Review: I am a long-time tournament chess player who is seeking to get beyond just knowing the basic rules of Go. This new title seems to offer a lot more bang for the buck than others I've reviewed. It even looks like a better buy than any single volume in the highly-regarded Janice Kim series (which has apparently risen in price due to high demand). Cost being no object, it would surely be better to own the first two or three books in that series, but given the price I think this offers better value in a single volume.It's nicely written and handsomely laid out, and seems quite up-to-date (with information about playing on the Internet and the current [weak] state of Go-playing software). I have over 250 chess books and consider myself quite knowledgeable in that field. This is, however, my first Go book. I fully acknowledge not having the experience to definitively judge quality as well as a long-time tournament player or teacher could. But having been around the block in life and having looked at a lot of Go titles before choosing, I can pretty strongly say that you could do a LOT worse. In its price range, this fine new book could well become THE one to have.
Rating:
Summary: It can tell beginners what go really is
Review: My friends have been after me for a long time, ever since I learned to play this game in Japan, where I have been teaching for the last ten years. I went out of my way to write this review because, for other go players like me, this book is really incredible. The short introduction tells what go meant for all the different people who have played it for so long for so many reasons. The how-to-play section is the best I have seen for gradually introducing the game without the usual emphasis on doing problems, which is too much like giving out homework. Then, they can take a quick look at what it will be like playing on bigger boards. They may not understand it, but it is like a great taste to advanced go! They are given encouragement to keep playing and taste all the joys of playing. Then there is the complete history of the game! What a great service Mr. Shotwell and his helpers have done for the go community!
Rating: 
Summary: Lots of Taoist mysticism and a fair introduction to Go
Review: There are two games of Go, the forest-and-trees welter of confusion that a beginner sees, and the game within the game that everyone else comes to terms with. Shotwell's book can bring you past the boulders of confusion and leave you standing beside the deep water. Whether you swim or not... :) He's also a geisha, in the well-known Reischauer/Culture of Japan academic style, so much of the book is full of reverent Taoist and Kung Fu mysticism which may be fun, but should be transcended as soon as you "see" the inner game. It's beside the point. Bottom line, I like this book. It nudged my game forward. That said, if you want to learn Go, you should get a good computer Go game, like Go4++ (Windows, commercial) or Sente Goban (Mac OS X, freeware), dumb it down and play until you win. Then come back to this book. There's a lot of satisfaction in that first win against a computer, and it helps the book make sense.
Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: This book is sensational. The other beginning go books I looked at had about a tenth of the information about killer techniques, plus this one has the whole story of the greatest game I've ever learned--and I know alot of them. I gave one to my mom and she is hooked, too. You just play the games out and the game comes to you.
Rating:
Summary: Go really is more than a game
Review: This wonderful book was given to me and it is so good that I want others to know about it. No wonder that David Carlton, who reviews books for the American Go Association, called it the "best one-volume introduction to go!" Just for the history of the game, it is a valuable reference and the learning of the game is easy and fun. And by the way, there is plenty about ko and there are plenty of variations (in reference to two of the readers' comments)--it is not meant to be a problem book--there are plenty of those around. It is more like a companion and guide to thinking intelligently about the game. Now I know what the "Dark School of Taoism" contributed and how King Yao came down from the heavens with his board and stones and what "The Thirty Six Strategies are! Thank you, Tuttle, for putting this fine book out!
Rating:
Summary: A good Go guide
Review: When reading this book, it was something that should be read several times over. After playing several games, I got a feel of why the author responded the way he did in several situations. The book was much more valuable at that point.
Rating:
Summary: A decent book
Review: When reading this book, the author leaves alot unsaid - he displays the proper move, and gives the reader a sense of what is the right move with the answer, but often fails to convey the subleties of the move to the beginner. It would have been more helpful not only to add variations, but go into the finer points of ko threat. I was left wondering on several cases, how to follow through on countering ko threats in a series and so on.
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