Gerzadowicz, S - Thinker's Chess (Thinker's Press)
McDonald, N - Defence in Chess (Master Class)

Otherwise Good Books with a Confidence-Sapping Cover (before you ever get to a Diagram):

My current favourite is Play Anti-Indian Systems by Egon Varnusz, cover by Pintail Design for Maxwell Macmillan Chess (published in 1991).

Some tips when choosing a Christmas gift for the chess player in your life. (An odd idea I know, but I think many of them still live with their mum. [Hello, Mum!])

The Ideas Behind Modern Chess Publishing (Gravy Train)

Guest review by Russell Gooding

 David Bronstein. His classic book Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953,and the average club player.

 In 1953 David Bronstein was already a proven world class chess player. Only two years previously - following a candidate's playoff against his lifelong friend Isaac Boleslavski - he had drawn a most dramatic match for the world title.