I cannot recommend this book to anyone who is seriously thinking of using their BBC for business and I think it would bore the rest of the Beeb user community stiff.

It is almost entirely a descriptive work. It describes the general functions of word processing, keeping accounts and so on. This is partly culled from a similar book for the Commodore 64. It also describes various pieces of commercially available software for the BBC plus DFS and the BBC plus Torch Z80 disc pack. There is software from Gemini, MicroAid, BBC Publications, Acornsoft and Software For All as well as many of the CP/M favourites.

Unfortunately there is no comparison of products unless you wish to do the job yourself. Nor - and the author confirms this for us - can we rely on the packages having been fully tested. Much information has merely been culled from the manuals and we know how reliable they are!

The book has tried to keep up to date but recent interesting releases such as the Acorn Z80 software, DataGem, Sage and Systematic, are not included.

Nor can such a book take time off to explain about business practice or give advice on installing a computer system. As it stands, it is more a compendium of commercial software, and to be fair, not just an uncritical one.

There is no doubt that a substantial amount of information is packed into the book but I think a few telephone calls to the companies concerned would result in a substantial bundle of sales literature and spec sheets (up to date) and would save you the 7.95.