When I first heard Jon Oxer (who is well known within certain technical circles) was working on a book like this, I couldn't wait to get a copy. In a nutshell, he explained that the aim of this book was to answer all of the common questions that he gets asked on a daily basis as the Technical Director of his company Internet Vision Technologies. He said he wanted to create a resource that he could hand to all of his clients that asked questions like "What is hosting?" and "What is SEO?". Most "build a website" style books don't usually talk about these things, thus missing the mark completely.

I have taught web basics to many people, most of whom have purchased books like "Build a website in 10 days" or "Learn DreamWeaver" etc. and the first thing I usually tell them is to take a big step back and look at the big picture. There is so much more to building and maintaining a successful website than just learning HTML. They need to know about web hosting, contractors, front versus back end, copyright, domains names, eCommerce, and the list goes on!

This is the one of the books ("The Unusually Useful Web Book" is another) I now recommend to all my colleagues and clients if they're serious about coming up to speed with the web. It's an easy read, thorough and concise.