HTML 4 for Dummies by Ed Tittel, Natanya Pitts

Simply put, Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is the magic Web authors use to create readable, attractive pages for all the world to see. At first glance, building Web pages may seem to require years of arduous training, advanced aesthetic capabilities, and hours of exhausting trial–and–error exercises. But if you can tell somebody how to drive across town to your house, you can certainly build a Web document that performs to your expectations.