So having joined the O'Reilly blogger program I picked this as my first choice. Not wanting something to swamp me on my first attempt but also something that I would be able to understand to possibly make the reviewing process slightly easier.
How surprised was I??
The Head First series is aimed at people looking to make a start in a particular area, as every book in this series that area is described in the title.
If your looking to build a website, no matter how big or small, this book will setup up for moving onto amazing things and in a very short space of time.
It works through taking a light hearted view to the subject and adding lots of pictures, tasks and systems to help you remember what you are learning while also giving you an excellent understanding of not only what to do but why you are doing it.
The level of information was amazing, as I know a fair chunk of what it was saying I could of easily found it boring but the authors Elisabeth Robson and Eric T Freeman have done an excellent job. It goes into great detail about many things while still talking "human being" so that a complete novice will easily be able to follow it. The fact that it actually builds websites so people can see what the changes being made are doing first hand also will give every beginner a great deal of confidence for the future.
It starts by taking you through the first steps of HTML and then on teaching you a very structured approach so that it becomes easy to under stand the difference between content and it structured way and the look and feel of a site.
If you are looking to learn html, build your own website be it for fun and someone has suggested you build something for your local club as your the "tech guy" this book is excellent and will give you a solid foundation that you will never look back.
Only two issues with the book. Its possibly time for a refresh as it says that HTML 4, thats it no more, just when 5 has been released (certainly don't be put off by this as it gives you a much better foundation than running out and buying a book thats just for version 5) and also there is a little too much tuition on Photoshop. Although Photoshop is an important tool, not everyone uses it and there are lots of other resources to teach this.
Marks for this book 4/5.
Head First HTML with CSS and XHTML by Elisabeth Robson and Eric T Freeman