To say that I love this book is an understatement. This was the first book that I'd read on CSS that clicked from the first page all the way through until the last. I have many other CSS books on my shelf, but this one is the one that gets reached for the most.

There are many books on CSS out there, and I've investigated quite a few of them in order to gain some proficiency in it.

However there were always pieces of the puzzle that never came together for me. CSS books seemed to lean towards either the technical or design aspects of CSS, without sufficiently showing their connection. For instance, technical books would discuss in varying detail the types of selectors without examining their practical significance, or what all the properties were without exploring their aesthetic ramifications; or, on the other hand, design oriented CSS books would discuss the wondrous ways to use CSS to create beautiful websites, but without exploring on a satisfactory technical level some of the reasons for their decisions.

Mr. Shafer strikes the perfect balance, demonstrating with succinct examples the relationship between technical considerations and design aesthetics. He takes you by the hand from the beginning and leads you step by step so that the reader will develop solid, standardized habits based on theoretical considerations to produce clear, uniform, and aesthetically compelling stylesheets. He teaches you why you're doing things so that you come away with a greater understanding.

This was a book written by an expert with a complete mastery of his topic on both a technical and design level who knows how to teach. Plus it has the added advantage of being written simply and clearly, with relevant examples demonstrating everything discussed. And it's refreshingly no-nonsense, without the painful condescension or groan-inducing style of all too many computer books.

Don't let the title deter you. Though it's ostensibly written for old-style designers to definitively convince them to move from table-based designs to CSS and showing them how to do it (are there any left who remain so unconvinced?), this book would benefit anyone wishing to really gain a mastery of CSS, no matter what level of expertise. The book even includes an appendix containing a comprehensive property reference for CSS2. I cannot recommend this book highly enough for those seeking to understand the relationship between the technical and design aspects of CSS. Well done, Mr. Shafer -- you have written one of the best computer books I've yet encountered! I wish all computer books were written this well.

(On a related note, this is the second book published by Sitepoint that I've purchased, and I applaud their editorial team for publishing such good books. Judging from these two books they seem to have a successful policy in place to write excellent technical books. Their books remove the chaff that turn so many computer books into useless tomes; and they treat their readers as possessing intelligence but who lack some specific knowledge which their books seek to fill from the ground up. I've grown weary of the condescending, patronizing, and sometimes even (seemingly deliberate) mystifying tone of most of the other computer book publishers out there, especially O'Reilly, who seem to target their books for some kind of "in-group" (wink wink). In the future when I need a technical computer book I will look first to Sitepoint, then to Sams, then to Peachpit. O'Reilly's Nutshell books are often still the best reference standards; but I will look elsewhere when I need to acquire new computer knowledge.)

(On another note, I wrote the above before reading some of the other comments here about this book. Wow -- what a range of opinion! I, as many other commenters here, have been a computer professional for many years (>25). I think the only conclusion I can reach is of the 'different strokes for different folks' variety. Clearly what works for me does not work for many others. Well, Vive la difference!)

This book is very easy to read. The author takes a very simple building block approach. A chapter will talk about a group of CSS commands/options and at the end of the chapter, the author shows how these items can be used in a praticle web site.

The book is simple enough for beginners to understand and yet it provides enough details that advanced CSS users could still learn something from this book.

I was recommended this book by co-workers and I haven't been sorry. Yes, the book is for beginners, but it's answered some questions and has helped out with browser compatibility - a skill I was lacking. The book does jump around a bit, but I feel that it covers each topic completely over time. It's not a dry read like many technology books. What is most helpful is reading the author's recommendations for best practices.

For the beginner, this is a good book to get a leg up on CSS.

I had high hopes for this book. I was ready for something completely dedicated to teaching me everything I needed to know about creating a site without using a single table tag for layout. Although the book does explain how to do this, I was still disappointed. After a brief introduction about CSS (yet again), section two of the book explains how to create layouts without using tables. In all, seventy pages of 500 are centered on this topic. Half the book is a CSS reference. The other sections talk about fonts, colors, etc. Clearly, the book is mis-titled. This remains a good book for someone new to CSS, so they can avoid bad habits from the start.