It has always been my firm opinion that Robert Lafore's book is the best book to start learning C++. Although people use and talk about other books like C++ Primer, or the C++ programming language by Bjarne, or the book by Deitel.Lafore seems to be an excellent teacher and uses many diagrams to illustrate his thoughts. I had the third edition of the book, and I had read it so many times, that I used to revise this book in just two three hours when I wanted to refresh my C++ basics. The fourth edition is similar but has the latest keywords and updates. It removes the chapter on C++ graphics which is welcome change.I must also advice that this book is for beginner and not advanced level. It's also not a reference book. Its for learning, for starting onto object oriented programming. Its not that expensive too, and I would highly recommend it to be the first book to start learning C++.