If in about 5-10 years, someone chose to write a book about the development of web design, this book would rank at or near the top. This is probably the book that truly unleashed the so-called second-generation concept of web design on the world, for better or worse. Do you want to know about how to use tables for layouts, use transparent 1-pixel GIFs as spacers or "shims" to keep everything from getting wobbly, and how to use GIF-text images in conjunction with actual text to make your page look just the way you, the designer, want it to? All those techniques are explained here in great detail, with lots of examples, plus you can look at the companion website for source code.
Of course this second edition came out in 1997 - and now it's 2000, and many of the techniques he explains are outdated. Current-day standards advocates, usability experts and the like deplore the kinds of methods described here. Yet, probably most of the "designed" websites out there that are not using just the latest techniques or the the other extreme - just using plain-looking text layouts - are using at least a few of the techniques detailed here. So if you are new to HTML and web design, and you want to know how to make your pages look like much of what's on the web right now, this book is a must. "HTML Magic", which covers the much of the same material, is also recommended.
