I have little doubt that before long there will be a series of books all about learning BBC BASIC on the Electron.

I doubt very much indeed whether many of them will be as good as The Electron Book: Basic, Sound & Graphics by McGregor and Watt. It is quite simply excellent, the best book that I've read for a long time.

The first seven chapters are an introduction to the joys and complexities of BBC BASIC. Structured programming is introduced at an early stage, and the examples given are both illustrative and useful.

Each section is supported by a set of programming exercises which are an integral part of the book. By the time you've worked through these you'll be able to program your Electron with ease and a fair measure of expertise.

The last four chapters deal with the Electron's sound and graphics capabilities - playing tunes from the keyboard, user defined graphics, animation. It's all there and more, dealt with expertly and thoroughly.

Not that it's an easy book to read. It assumes a certain amount of effort and intelligence on the part of the reader. If you're not prepared to do the exercises which are a vital part of the book then you might find the later sections hard going. Having said that, the exercises are interesting in themselves. They illustrate and add to the text. Any brain strain is well worth the effort!

Given the above and 10 useful appendices you can see why I'm so impressed with this work. It has set a standard by which other books on the Electron will be judged. Impressive.

Graham Parr