Tracking changes is OFF.
I removed all section breaks.
Put in ONE odd-section break on the page before the first page of body of the book.
That works.
When I attempt to add further section breaks - no matter what type -- the page numbering messes up again, with blank pages added.
For reasons unknown to me, I cannot have page numbering in the front matter of the book; Word won't allow me to do that with correct page numbers and no blank pages.