William S. Root, winner of many national bridge championships, premier bridge teacher, author of classic bridge books, and recently elected to the Bridge Hall of Fame, is one of America's foremost bridge personalities.
        
As a player, Bill Root has won all three of the most important American trophies (the Vanderbilt, the Spingold, and the Reisinger) a total of thirteen times. He has represented the United States in the Bridge Olympiad; in the Bermuda Bowl; and on exhibition tours to South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. He is rated a World Master by the World Bridge Federation.
        
As a bridge teacher, Bill is considered to be one of the best of all time and has helped tens of thousands to enjoy the world's most popular card game. He has been the director for the National Intercollegiate Bridge Tournament and has served as Card Games Authority for the Association of American Playing Card Manufacturers, making him the modern-day Hoyle for the 120 million card players in America.
        
His many best-selling bridge books include Commonsense Bidding, How to Play a Bridge Hand, and How to Defend a Bridge Hand (all of which won the Book of the Year title awarded by the American Bridge Teachers' Association.) He also coauthored the popular Modern Bridge Conventions with Richard Pavlicek.

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

This easy-to-follow book covers in detail more than 50 of the most practical bridge conventions in use today. A glossary, which also serves as an index, lists more than 250 popular conventions, treatments, and systems. "Every bridge enthusiast should have it on his bookshelf."--Alfred Sheinwold, Los Angeles Times Syndicate.