This comprehensive textbook is a complete overview of the Intel microprocessor product line, from the 8086 to the Pentium Pro. It begins with a general overview of the chip architecture’s common features, register-level programming model, and assembly programming language. It then covers the various groups of instructions typical of any CPU, giving examples of small assembly programs that exercise or demonstrate each feature set. The author then presents the basic 808x hardware specifications. Separate chapters cover unique features of the later models, from the 80186 through the Pentium Pro.

The treatment is oriented to an electronic engineering course, with hardware references interlaced with the software examples. It includes interfacing, busing, and sample usage circuits for the major chip features. Computer science students would be better served by a more functional approach, but for electrical or electronic engineers, this text has nice, integrated coverage. The logical description of the more advanced features of the recent chips is missing, with only a mention of features such as branch prediction, instruction-level parallelism, and protection rings. Perhaps these are left for a subsequent higher-level architecture course, using a text such as Hennessy and Patterson [1].

The book is comprehensive, clear, and well laid out. It would be a good text for an introductory course or for self-study by an engineering student of the basic microprocessor-level architectures of the Intel family.