The Michael Langford's books on photography are the best. Go out and buy them. That's all I really need to say; possibly one of the shortest book reviews on Amazon.
With a book for keen beginners, serious amateurs and nerd-god professionals the series offers a complete encyclopedic level. I remember one of the first days at college we were recomended to purchase Langford's Basic Photography. I went ahead and got myself a copy and still have the copy complete with faded yellow highlighter. I absorbed the book as much as I was able and reread some of the chapters. The book started from the basic fundamentals - Light, Lenses & the history of how both played their part in the creation of phortography.
I recently purchased the other two. I'd always wanted a copy of the advanced particularly since the advent of digital photography held so much that is completely new for me and I love getting to the nuts n bolts of it all. The Beginners I wanted to see how good it was and whetehr it would be worth recommending
which has a whole new area to understand and the beginners copy; well the world of digital photography is a dynamic area of study and it's always good to be up on