FRENCH STUDIES AND MASTERY is carefully divided into grammar, general words, phrases and reading passages. The grammar section is so customized that it will offer the student the essentials of basic French grammar. Sandwiched within the compartment on the grammar are the general words and phrasal constructions the student will need in getting started in speaking French. Unlike most French manuals for beginners which are formulated in such a way that the student must always be running to the teacher for guidance; and once lectures are over, the student cannot use the manual independently, French Studies and Mastery has a special characteristic: the student, using the pronunciation exercise and the phonetic transcription of the words and phrases, can on his own in the absence of the teacher read the book. Moreover the Anglophone learner of the French language will have no difficulty getting at the meanings of the words, phrases and sentences as the translations are provided. The last part of the book is a readership section. Here each text has explanatory images, as well as vocabulary, oral and written composition, grammar and comprehension exercises. This section is a pedagogical tool that helps the student to start telling stories about different fields of life. He can also start to put these stories down in writing. The author Fr. Dr. Dr. Ikechukwu, Aloysius, Orjinta has PhD in French Studies/European Studies (University of Ibadan, Nigeria), PhD in German Studies and Political Science (University of Munich, Germany). He has also a B.A. French/German from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria and B.A.Theology from Urban University, Rome, Italy. He is therefore over qualified to embark on this exercise. I therefore recommend French Mastery for general studies programme in universities where French is a GEDS (General Studies) course or where French is a degree or second language course. - Prof. Joseph Ukoyen Department of European Studies/University of Ibadan, Nigeria