Best Book on Rook Endgames?

I understand that rook endgames are the most common endgames in chess and so maybe i figured out I start studying them first.Learning is fun when you get to cash in what you've learned right away

Any suggestions?

And no I don't like Dvoretsky

My favourite endgame book is Paul Keres' Practical Chess Endings which has a section on the most common rook endings.  A couple of interesting books specifically on rook endgames are John Emms' The Survival Guide to Rook Endings and Edmar Mednis' Practical Rook Endings.  None of these books is particularly easy, but if you get out a board, and play through the examples as you read, you should be able to learn a lot.

The John Emm's book is a good one, better than the Keres one (i think).

Minev's book (please see a review of the CD version http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review539.pdf)

Another option is just to go with a general book either Dvoretsky or Mueller

Yeah, I liked Emms too.  He has a refreshingly down-to-earth and unassuming style and approach to the subject...admitting that he learned all sorts of stuff about them himself while he was writing it, for example.

Is rook endings anything more than learning the basic positions (lucena and philidor and such) by heart, basic principles (rooks behind passed pawns and rooks on open files) and then rest of it is hardcore calculating?

There's also a shirtload of endgame articles you can read right here ("Learn - Articles" at the top of the page) and lots more available by using a search engine to look up whatever kind of endgame you're interested in.  

http://www.chess.com/blog/NimzoRoy/endgame-books?_domain=old_blog_host&_parent=old_frontend_blog_view

Rook Endings at the Beginner/Intermediate Level:

Practical Rook Endings by Edmar Mednis

http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Rook-Endings-Edmar-Mednis/dp/0931462169/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1368305864&sr=8-2-fkmr1&keywords=smyslov+rook+endings+1982

I've had this book in my library for many years and can recommend it all the common Rook and Pawn Endings you need to know are covered it's only 72 pages the production value of the book is very plain but for $10 used it can't be beat.

Practical Rook Endings by Victor Kortchnoi

http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Rook-Endings-Progress-Chess/dp/3283004013/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368306300&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=practical+rook+endings+victor+kortchnoi

Similar title but for more advanced players around the 1800-1950 level

Rook Endings by Yuri Averbakh and Nicolai Kopayev

http://www.amazon.com/Comprehensive-Chess-Endings-Volume-Rook/dp/4871875075/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368306637&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=rook+endings+averbach

A larger book on Rook Endings from Russia that's been rare and hard to find for many years it is the most complete one ever done on the subject.

Nope.  It's lots and lots of memorizing (endless R + P vs R positions).

Which of these Rook Endgame books is best for a high Class C/low Class B player:

Practical Endgames by Mednis: http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Rook-Endings-Edmar-Mednis/dp/0931462169

Secrets of Rook Endings by Nunn: http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Rook-Endings-John-Nunn/dp/1901983188

Survival Guide to Rook Endings by Emms: http://www.amazon.com/The-Survival-Guide-Rook-Endings/dp/1904600948

Rook Endings by Levenfish and Smyslov: http://www.amazon.com/Rook-Endings-Tournament-Players-Collection/dp/0713458097

Practical Rook Endings by Korchnoi: http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Rook-Endings-Progress-Chess/dp/3283004013

Other?

Wow you learn something new everyday. Never knew there was so many books dedicated to this topic.

Karsten Mueller's Fritztrainer series on endgames is highly regarded. This Chess Cafe reviewer liked this rook volume even better than Emm's book. Just another option if you might like to try something other than books. I have no idea how suited it is for C/B players though.

http://www.chesscafe.com/text/cbcafe26.pdf

I did.  I had a similar question to OP and did not feel like clogging up the forums with yet another thread on the same topic.

Noone mentioned Minev's book, which is excellent.

http://www.amazon.com/A-Practical-Guide-Rook-Endgames/dp/1888690224

EDIT: My bad, just saw Minev was mentioned in #5.

so which rook ending,s book is best?

Agreed with above, the best book depends on your level.  Start off with a beginner endgame book, master the basics (though one easily figures out tightening the box with K + R vs. K OTB they cover those for good measure too), study a strategic endgame book (the phase that transitions into theoretical endgames so the real third stage of chess between middlegame and endgame) so you could develop a feel for entering a superior rook ending (or if you're slightly or even clearly worse try for an equal one since playing for a draw is better than dreaming of a win when the position dictates it).

Here's the book list:

Class J-D:

Silman's Endgame Course

Nunn's Understanding Chess Endgames

Fundamental Chess Endings

Optional: Basic Chess Endings (revised by Pal Benko though not all errors from the original are gone)

Class C-A:

100 Endgames You Must Know

Amateur to IM

The Survival Guide to Rook Endgames

Minov's book (the one mentioned by Pfren)

Class B-A:

Comprehensive Chess Endings: the volumes on Rook Endings and rook vs. minor piece.

Nunn's Chess Endings 2: Rook Endgames

Expert and above:

Encyclopedia of Chess Endings.  Yes the notation is composed of Informant hieroglyphics, but at 2000 and above you should really familiarize yourself with them anyway.  Besides, you'll look at positions and say, "Force a Philidor position there, of course!" or "Yep, gotta setup that short side defense" and understand the point behind the moves without needing the commentary. 

If you're weak relative to your rating in endgames then look at books a class or two down.  Acquire basic knowledge first of all (so the ECE volumes shouldn't be your first endgame material by a long shot).

Not liking Dvoretsky will hurt you in the long run, at almost 1900 bullet you're good enough where you'll regularly run into people who are seriously reading his stuff. 

There are relatively few books devoted just to Rook endgames.

I never cared for Keres' endgame books. He tended to prefer puzzles (often his own creations) over the best examples for learning the openings. 

Averbakh's endgame books are fantastic, even if many need to be updated to reflect modern analysis. His book on Rook endings is one of the classics.

My favorite Rook endgame book is Rook Endings by Levenfish and Smyslov. The examples flow logically one to the next, the explanations are clear and memorable, and the analysis mostly stands up even now. There are flaws. In my book, there are some messed up symbols, and there are some famously incorrect analyses. But the mere fact that the analyses are famous shows how important they were in the first place. Anyone, including Magnus Carlsen, could still learn from that book!

A more recent book that is really, really difficult but well worth the effort is Korchnoi's Practical Roook Endings. The first chapter is devoted to "basics". That chapter alone makes it better than anything I've read by Keres on Rook endings. But the meat of the book is devoted to Korchnoi's incredibly deep analysis of several rook endings he played against Karpov. His comments are typically derogatory toward any of his opponents, but the analysis is brilliant. He claims that anyone who works through the entire book, even grandmasters, will gain perhaps 200 rating points in strength as a result. I rather doubt that, but it will certainly help anyone.

Among more general works, I do like Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual far more than Silman's. It may be an issue with style, but I always feel like Silman is talking down to his students rather than trying to help them. Dvoretsky is never guilty of that, he's forever trying to find the most precise lines. 

I really like Flear's endgame books. They cover a wide range of topics, but tend to focus on practical positions. 

For an encyclopedic analysis of endgames, I like both Fundamental Chess Endings (Muller and Lamprecht) and Batsford Chess Endings (Speelman, Tisdall, and Wade).

Of this list, I'd recommend either Emms or Mednis. They are both well written and designed to teach a novice how to play endgames. They have both incorporated many of the best lessons from Levenfish and Smyslov.

The Korchnoi book is incredibly heavy going with reams of analysis and not much there for anyone who is starting studying rook endings for the first time. I got through about 4 pages of it and decided it was too much like hard work.

The Nunn book is even more extreme, 350+ pages and it ONLY covers Rook and one pawn vs rook. Nothing else. Incredibly detailed but incredibly specific. Because it's John Nunn it's no doubt an excellent book but very hard to see any value in it for most players, except maybe as a reference tool.

I can say the Emms book is excellent although I've not read it from cover to cover.

Hey, thanks all for your very helpful responses and your detailed descriptions of the strengths of each of the Rook books.  Much appreciated.

Another $.02  / experienced opinion: Your level matters more than the material.  An endgame book should be a guide.  If analysis is too difficult even to follow, then it should be put aside until later.  At least 80% of your time should be in thinking, and moving pieces (or visualizing) on your own, in an attempt to discover and reinforce material covered in the book.  Virtually all top players, and particularly endgame specialists (i.e., Capa, Bobby, Magnus, VK... etc.) have labored over years with the subject.  

To that end, hard labor with simpler positions, then with similar simpler positions, is much more useful for playing results than attempting to tackle material that is clearly out of one's reach.  VK's book is an amazing demonstration, and is probably useful for players 2400 and up.

Dvoretsky, for example, starts each section with basics.  As he says, work through the positions on your own.  Get them wrong, labor, etc., battle before looking at solutions.  By the time you move on, know the position you've looked at cold.

Apologies for those who may feel this is somewhat tangential.  Good luck to all.