Computer Spreadsheets by Nigel Day and Owen Rees, published by BBC Publications for £6.95 is a great book for the uninitiated spreadsheet user. Their power is tempting the BBC businessman but you need a helping hand to get going.

This book throughout sticks to its promise "to play the part of a friend who has used spreadsheets helping you to find all about them". The early chapters are very helpful and easy to understand. A variety of examples from Ultracalc are displayed. Visicalc and Lotus 123 provide interesting comparisons for the BBC Micro owner using Ultracalc, Intersheet or ViewSheet. He certainly won't feel shortchanged by the facilities offered by the software.

Progress is logical, from calculator type work to formatting screen display, labelling and decimal places. Saving, printing and "templating" are explained before proceeding to "What if?" calculations.

Commands, functions and the order of re-evaluation are considered and the usefulness of spreadsheets in loan analysis and trial budgets discussed. Spreadsheets can get unwieldy and in "Bigger Models" the book deals with editing features, inserting, moving and copying. At this stage of the book full value is gained by actually practising with the examples on your spreadsheet. They are realistic examples, the sort of thing you would perhaps be devising yourself anyway.

IF...THEN constructs within a model and the use of Ultracalc's "lookup" function are two very important sections, dealt with inadequately in the manuals and perhaps overlooked by many users.

A "worked example" provides a games league model for arcade game players, proving that spreadsheets can be handy for all sorts of application, not just financial.

Appendix 9, a complete design for a horse show (dressage) schedule confirms the flexibility of spreadsheets once again, sitting alongside other appendices on Household Budget, Invoice with Price List, Telephone Directory, Loan Repayment Chart, Expenses Claim Form, Cricket Analysis and Car Expenses.

The book finishes with a look at possible advanced facilities and choosing a spreadsheet program. An excellent finish to a remarkably useful book. Ultracalc users will get most from it but other spreadsheet owners can easily tailor examples to their own software. Great value if you are hooked on spreadsheets.