To this reviewer s knowledge, this is the first book accessible to the upper division undergraduate or beginning graduate student that surveys linear programming from the Simplex Method via the Ellipsoid algorithm to Karmarkar s algorithm. Moreover, its point of view is algorithmic and thus it provides both a history and a case history of work in complexity theory. The presentation is admirable; Karloff's style is informal (even humorous at times) without sacrificing anything necessary for understanding. Diagrams (including horizontal brackets that group terms) aid in providing...