Attacking Chess: The French

This was the book I used to develop my French Defence repertoire in my early days of playing. Usefulness: 8/10, gave me lines to use or improve on from my previous games. Readability: 7/10, there are diagrams after every 5 moves or so, but I recommend using a physical board. Target Audience: I am now around 1750 FIDE and found the book accessible (my peak rating was 2077 USCF back in 1995). Not sure of appropriate rating range; but would guess Intermediate. Study Time: book has chapters devoted to each variation; some chapters can be covered in a day for simple obscure lines, but probably will need from several days to a week to cover a chapter on something complicated like the Winawer or Tarrasch variations. It is best to play you own game first, then refer to the appropriate chapter for GM Williams' suggestion of what could have been done. Main Takeaway: GM Simon Williams has a down-to-earth way of explaining chess, which makes his work (books, gingergm videos) more accessible to lower-rated players than most IMs and GMs who publish.