Leslie Lamport's often cited "Latex" book is an adequate guide to this document preparation system. The problem with this book is that it's slightly too complicated (and dated) for absolute beginners (when I was learning Latex, I tried to read this book but couldn't and ended up using "The Not So Short Introduction to Latex" - available on the internet, instead), while not being detailed enough for more advanced users. At only 272, there just isn't enough there to be of much use. I also own a copy ofThe LaTeX Companion (Tools and Techniques for Computer Typesetting)and I find that I use that book far more often than this one. This book is adequate if there is nothing else for you to look at, but there are better books out there that you can spend your money on.