"It is another Lancaster classic - need we say more?" Indeed, the publishers needn't have bothered saying it at all. Lancaster, the Steven Spielberg of hobbyist micro books, has added yet another laid-back, witty, accurate and educational book to his pile of triumphs.

Micro Cookbook Volume 1 is subtitled 'Fundamentals'. It starts miles from the micro scene, introducing micros from the simplest possible level, progressing through Lancaster's often shocking but invariably accurate aphorisms and into number systems, coding, memory devices, logic and so on.

The first third of the book is a scream. The book itself is dedicated to the 6502 chip, and Lancaster goes on to a superb introduction to microcomputing with a continued fun-poke at such justifiable targets as 8080s, dino computers, old-line publishers and cynics.

If you really are new to microcomputing, you'll miss many of the funnies. But you still get wise and practical information in easy-to-understand American.

Following this Lancaster plunges into the serious side of microcomputing fundamentals. It's rather like a teacher who jokes with his class before landing them with their homework.

It's still light hearted but the 'Doing it' boxes have changed from 'Show how to get the Oyster slobbering contentedly in the Pyramid of Doom' to 'show how you can build a hold-follow latch out of an inverter and four NAND gates.'

The Micro Cookbook is an ideal introduction for those prepared to get their hands dirty, and who want to get the most from microcomputers.

But it's a shame parts of it relate too closely to the American scene, and Lancaster might be a bit off the mark in that future generations of micro users are going to want and get those rewards without ever having heard of a 6502.

In the meantime, he is undoubtedly right in providing a gut level, bottom upwards introduction to micros.

It may take the Micro Cookbook a long time to discuss some of the real applications people are actually using micros for today, but Lancaster freely admits that Volume 1 ends in mid air. Volume 2 will be worth waiting for.