This book will not be every Beeb user's cup of tea. Written by a headmaster, it leans towards the educational field rather than giving a general outlook.

It introduces the uses of micros and then goes through 52 steps to explain the machine. Most aspects of the BBC's capabilities are covered, and you learn to use the keyboard in a crawl-before-you-walk fashion. Diagrams illustrate salient points and, where appropriate, a drawing of a screen shows what your computer should produce if you're doing everything right.

These sections cover such things as graphics, colours, string handling, etc. The control structures are introduced in these sections as they become of use. That is, things like REPEAT UNTIL are taken along with MOVE and DRAW enabling the repetition of lines.

The book then returns to chapter mode with one on better Basic. This includes flow charts and program design. The book finishes with a chapter on simulations and then one on listings, containing the ideas covered previously.

All in all, solid but not outstanding.

Sandra Grandison