Bird David

World-class instruction from basic bidding to advanced defence; a fully illustrated history and teaching course.

'Nazi Dreamtime' is the story of extreme-right ultra-nationalists in Australia before and during the Second World War. Some native-born Australians were attracted to the ideology of Nazism, believing it to be applicable to Australian political and cultural life. They felt the 'German revolution' was a European experiment that Australians ought to learn from, and to an extent emulate. These Nazi enthusiasts and their fellow travellers were charitably described by one renegade amongst them as 'well-meaning dreamers'. Their ranks included tourists, appeasers, political agitators, propagandists, writers, poets, mystics, aesthetes, academics, soldiers and outright cranks. Some were obscure figures; others enjoyed a high public profile. Many thought that Aboriginal concepts of dreaming could be merged with national-socialism to form a 'blood-and-soil' white dreaming - a Nazi Dreamtime under the Southern Cross. Berlin's aggressive foreign policy in the late 1930s failed to shake their faith, and even the war would not dislodge some from Hitlerism. Only the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945 terminated the dream that had become a nightmare, although the idea still lingered.

An intermediate-level discussion of declarer play in the game of bridge, this book focuses on the power of the trump suit. Its subjects include trump and situations where you need to unblock in the trump suit or to put a defender on lead with a trump. The reader will learn how to make maximum use of the entries provided by the trump suit, and how to perform a trump safety play or a trump avoidance play. Two other important topics are how to make your contract against a bad trump break and how you can survive a forcing attack on the long-trump holding. Later chapters explain how to play contracts with fewer than eight trumps at your disposal, and also how to conjure extra tricks from the trump suit. Every couple of chapters or so, there is a 9-problem quiz section.

Nazi Dreamtime is the ground-breaking story of extreme-right, ultra-nationalist thought and practice in Australia in the period immediately before and during the Second World War. It focuses on those native-born Australians who were attracted to the ideology of Nazism in Germany from 1933. Their belief was that the achievements and tenets of the Nazi regime were applicable to Australian political and cultural life to some extent. These Nazi enthusiasts and their fellow-travellers differed markedly over the extent of that applicability, but all agreed that Australians ought to learn from and follow the European experiment of the ‘German revolution’. The appeal of Nazism was marked in the immediate post-Depression years amongst those Australians who rejected democracy but were uncomfortable with alternatives on the conservative Right and on the Left. The aggressive foreign policy followed by Berlin in the late-thirties failed to shake the faith of these ideologues and even the duress of war would not dislodge the faith of some in Hitlerism. This group was charitably described as ‘well-meaning dreamers’ by one renegade amongst them and their ranks included tourists, appeasers, political agitators, propagandists, writers, poets, mystics, aesthetes, academics, soldiers and outright cranks. Some were obscure figures; others enjoyed a high public profile and were well-known. Many thought that aboriginal concepts of dreaming could be merged with a local variant of national-socialism to form a white dreaming – a Nazi Dreamtime under the Southern Cross. Only the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945 terminated the prospects of what had turned from dream to nightmare, although the idea lingered.

An in-depth 'over-the-shoulder' look at top-level bridge. While describing almost 200 deals that he played in World and European Championships, one of the world's best players, Boye Brogeland, discusses bidding and cardplay, as well as his approach to the mental side of the game. A fascinating glimpse into the thought processes of a champion bridge player, as well as a look at state-of-the-art bidding methods, some of which are described here for the first time. Boye Brogeland (Norway) has won both the World and European Championships, and is a regular participant in North American tournaments. David Bird, who lives near Southampton, England, has written more than 100 books on the game. Despite spending much of the year travelling, he still finds time to write new stories every month for a host of magazines around the world, usually featuring his best-known characters, the monks of St. Titus Abbey. He is also a regular commentator on BBO broadcasts of top-level competitions.

Endplays are an aspect of bridge declarer play that many intermediate players think are beyond them. Yet while they can be extremely complex, the basic principles are not. Five years ago, David Bird wrote "Bridge Squeezes for Everyone," a book about an even more complex topic that has become a modern classic. Using the same straightforward, conversational style with recaps and quizzes that characterized the earlier book, this new title will make endplays understandable to many readers who have been afraid to attempt to learn them.

In bridge, the 'declarer' is the one who nominates which suit is trumps; his/her partner's hand becomes the 'dummy'. Every intermediate bridge player is familiar with the routine techniques of dummy play. What this book describes are less well-known stratagems that may save the day in non-routine situations.

Each book is a collection of bridge problems which provide a fun way to practice and develop your skill in an important cardplay technique at bridge. These books are designed to add an extra dimension to the detailed instruction contained in Bridge Technique series.

Each book in the Test Your Bridge Technique is a collection of bridge problems which provide a fun way to practice and develop your skill in an important cardplay technique at bridge. These books are designed to add an extra dimension to the detailed instruction contained in Bridge Technique series (Bird & Smith), which won the American Bridge Teachers' Association Book of the Year award in 2002.

Each book in the Test Your Bridge Technique series is a collection of bridge problems which provide a fun way to practice and develop your skill in an important cardplay technique at bridge. These books are designed to add an extra dimension to the detailed instruction contained in the Bridge Technique series (Bird and Smith).

Do you remember the first few times you played bridge? To get you started, a friend probably gave you a few helpful hints -- perhaps one of the ones listed to the left. There are many such general guidelines for bridge players -- some of them valuable, some not. But these are the Bridge Myths, not the Bridge Rules -- because they all have exceptions and none should be followed blindly. In reading this book you will get to see what it is about each guideline that makes it so useful; more importantly, you will also learn to recognize the times when you should ignore it. DECLARER'S MYTHS - Draw trumps straight away - Hold up an ace - Win as cheaply as possible - Play low in second seat - Eight ever, nine never - Ruff losers in the dummy - Finesse whenever you can - Play on your longest suit first - Lead towards high cards - Ruff the defenders' winners - Lead low to a trick - Run your longest suit - Leave the big decision until last DEFENDER'S MYTHS - Third hand high - Return partner's suit - Cover an honor with an honor - Second hand low - Capture an honor with an honor - Lead through strength - Discard from your weakest suit - Score a ruff when you can - Never give a ruff-and-sluff - Split your honors - Follow low when a trick is lost - Don't ruff partner's winner David Bird, who lives near Southampton, England, has written more than 100 books on the game. Despite spending much of the year travelling, he still finds time to write new stories every month for a host of magazines around the world, usually featuring his best-known characters, the monks of St. Titus Abbey. He is also a regular commentator on BBO broadcasts of top-level competitions.

Intended for intermediate players, these books will eventually form a twelve-book series that takes the reader through the most important aspects of card-play technique at bridge. Each book is short and full of practical examples, and end-of-chapter quizzes reinforce the concepts. The series will appeal to beginners who are anxious to improve in stages, and to more experienced players who want to improve their knowledge of a specific aspect of card play.