This book investigates how arguers balance effectiveness with reasonableness in discourse. Frans H. van Eemeren introduces the concept of strategic maneuvering to bridge the dialectical and rhetorical aspects of argumentation. This maneuvering occurs throughout argumentative discourse, involving choices from available topical potential, audience adaptation, and presentational devices. The text posits that strategic maneuvering becomes fallacious when critical discussion rules are violated, leading to a fallacy.

The book is regarded as a significant contribution to argumentation theory, particularly for its integration of dialectical and rhetorical perspectives through the concept of strategic maneuvering. It offers a refined methodology for analyzing and evaluating argumentative discourse by considering the continuous efforts arguers make to be both effective and reasonable. The framework presented allows for a more precise identification of when such efforts cross into fallacious territory. This work is likely to be of interest to scholars and students in communication, linguistics, and philosophy.