The authors of this guide to Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) are indeed cooks, and are remarkably unapologetic and frank:

The easy way [to create a Web page] is to find a Web page that you like, copy it, and change it around as needed.…If you want to do it the hard way, starting from scratch for each Web page you create, this book is not for you. Instead, pick up a copy of The HTML Sourcebook by Ian S. Graham (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.), and have at it.

Following this “easy way,” they have provided a useful collection of model pages and templates, which are easily accessible from an accompanying CD. This approach to Web page design is relatively easy because HTML is an interpreted language and Web browsers can usually display the source. However, after flirting unsuccessfully with a pure cookbook model, the authors ultimately revert to conventional exposition, explaining HTML tags and offering examples of their use.

This volume can be divided into five parts of varying utility, depending on the reader’s needs and sophistication. The first part defines basic Web terminology and illustrates browsers and helper programs. Experienced users can probably skip these initial chapters, while novices may find the going hard due to gaps in the exposition. The second part outlines the cookbook model: selecting a plan, choosing a template, making changes, establishing links, testing, and installation. The reader can choose from 18 types of Web pages, presented in lavish but often obscure detail in a 129-page chapter. The third part straightforwardly presents HTML syntax. Common Gateway Interface (CGI) scripting and Perl are introduced but, unfortunately, not explained.

The rest of the main text (five chapters, 163 pages) is devoted to questions of style and design. Some issues may be resolvable by common sense, while others reflect the authors’ taste. None of the suggestions is supported by data. The chapter on international design principles would inspire more confidence were it not for the assertion that “God Bless America” and “God Save the Queen” share a melody.

An appendix listing Web tools, some of them included on the CD and most of them downloadable, could, for some readers, be the most valuable part of this book.