The Game of Go

This is a nifty little guide, I can see why its still around. However, I would call it first and foremost a piece of Go history, and secondarily a decent introduction to the game and its past. Only with few other options available would I advise using this to actually learn to play. Quite aside from the probability that learning interactively is ideal (online or in person), there are also better books around. Should there be no other source accessible to you then so be it, and I definitely do recommend this book for otherwise non-instructive purposes. Many of the historical anecdotes presented within are not so well represented elsewhere.

The main trouble as I see it is all in the layout. A useful diagram is shown, variably following or followed by pages of turn-by-turn commentary. Unless the reader has a board in front of them, they have only two options. Either keep the board in memory, adding moves mentally as you read them, or flip several pages back to the diagram between one move and the next. I'm not saying this is impossible; Go players seem to eventually have phenomenal memory. In fact, in the early 20th century when this was written, it might not have been an unreasonable request for a beginner. Before the "Google effect" really kicked in people were better at these things. I personally found it quite difficult, but that really says more about me than the book.

Regardless, it's worth a read. While the actual instructive bits are tedious, every other part was fascinating and informative.