Be very aware that this is the "2nd Edition" of this book and if you go looking for it make sure you get a copy with "2nd Edition" stamped in the top left hand corner. Why? Because the first edition, penned solely by Dan Shafer, wasn't anywhere near as good as this edition, updated by Rachel Andrew, a regular Sitepoint author. You may remember we reviewed another Ms Andrew book a few months back.

The other thing you need to be aware of up front is that the title of the book is actually a little misleading. Well, it was for me anyway. I expected a book detailing how to create sites utilising tableless tables, i.e. using the positioning element of CSS rather than the <table> HTML tag. Not so, the book instead meanders a little here and there, explaining CSS, font elements and other tidbits before coming to the point about half way through the book, then lapsing into a CSS reference in an Appendix.

Given all the above I still feel the book is definitely worth a read. Although, it seems primarily aimed at newbies, the CSS educated coder is going to get something out of it as well. There are a load of books out there on CSS, and this one slightly misses the point by not zoning in totally on the tableless table, but there are flashes of brilliance and a very readable writing style. In fact, I would recommend the purchase of the book based solely on Appendix C, the CSS Property Reference, which is unbelievably comprehensive and a definite technical library position holder all on its own.

So, if you are new to CSS and would like to have a book that teaches you all the basics and then some, this could be what you are looking for. And, it is this point which allows me to give the book a definite thumbs up.