Yet it is also a reference text that doesn't regurgitate the specification like a manual. The examples stand on their own merit without being hacked to fit a central premise or system.(I've found this a very irritating and awkward problem with other example books - if your problem or design doesn't fit into the overall premise, the code behind it isn't covered in some books.) This book can really help you to see the distinction between formatting and data as the basic HTML in the examples doesn't need major changes from chapter to chapter. A few tweaks of the stylesheet and the plain document can be transformed. Includes CSS1, CSS2, interactive menus, multi-column pages, CSS for screen, print or webTV and CSS validation.
No need to worry about whether the example will leave you in a blind alley, this text is not trying to build an entire system. Each example is well crafted, giving the feel of a reference text.
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) by Example starts with the basics and then progresses to more advanced subject matter. The book covers most of what comprises the initial level of CSS, or CSS1, along with several key features of CSS2 supported by current browsers. There's clear explanations for those new to CSS, and there are easy to follow examples of more advanced techniques like ribbon menus and backwards compatability.