Hamlyn 1981, reissued by Treasure Press 1988

When I asked Dave Whitcombe about his book he told me that he had only been given two weeks to put it together. Considering that and the age of the book (not far off 25 years old as I write) it's not too bad.

I have the second edition which mysteriously has John Lowe on the front and back cover. The original edition has Eric Bristow on the cover, presumably an effort by the publisher to try and increase sales.

The 1988 edition was published as part of a "How To Play" series for newcomers and once again taking that into account, Whitcombe did an admirable job of making the book interesting. The first two chapters 'the old game' and 'the new game' are too brief to hold a great deal of interest to any student of darts, but the book springs to life in chapter three 'the beginning for me.'

Whitcombe talks about how he came to play darts starting from a very poor standard indeed. He tracks his career to the point of publication where he had just taken his first major title the 'Marlboro Masters'. Ceratainly an inspiration to all struggling players, Whitcombe proves that you can become a good player and that you don't necessarily have to be a natural when you start off.

The book has certainly dated in a lot of ways and chapters such as "fitness" and "what to wear" are little more than space fillers. There's an interesting chapter on "the unknowns" where Whitcombe gives profiles of some unknown playes from the time that he felt were special. One of these, Denis Ovens did of course realise his potential and go on to be one of the world's top players.

All in all not a bad book and one that does a little more than it says on the cover.