[1]: 200  Austrian bridge player and theorist Paul Stern had (being a Jew and also strongly anti-Nazi) sought refuge in London after Nazi Germany occupied Austria in the 1938 Anschluss.

According to the Introduction to the book by English bridge writer Guy Ramsay, Stern had known Darvas in the 1930s and in his exile had become friends with Hart.

Soviet Russia, which had taken control of Hungary after World War II, considered bridge a decadent game.

By devious routes Darvas smuggled out his ideas for bridge deals to Stern, who passed them on to Hart, who wrote the narrative.

There were still difficulties to overcome; they were solved by English bridge player and writer Ben Cohen, who gave the book its title and even managed to arrange for Darvas to come to England to see it through to publication.

They are uncredited, but resemble in style some of those by Fougasse, co-author and illustrator of the 1934 humorous book about bridge Aces Made Easy.

[1]: 423–424 Bridge Players' Encyclopedia has called the book one of those which made "a major improvement to the technical development of the game".