I’ve been doing some XSLT work the last couple of days so the Essential XML Quick Reference by Aaron Skonnard and Martin Gudgin has hardly left my side. It is a great book, and the fact that it is still quite relevant and readable 3 years after being published is a testament to the skill of the authors and the treacle-like progress of the W3C. This quote from Don Box on the inside cover cracks me up every time:
“Essentail XML Quick Reference is one of the few printed references I would actually buy.”
To paraphrase Don (a technical book author) - most technical books suck and are not worth buying. Fortunately you don’t have to buy this one - it has been available for free on the Developmentor website for a very long time, and is now also available from TheServerSide.