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The Latex Document Preparation System: User's Guide & Reference Manual
This user's guide and reference for the LaTeX computer typesetting system has been revised to document features available in release LaTeX2e.
258 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1985
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 8, 2016
How many of today's computer-related books will still be worth reading in 20 years? It's amazing how durable this one is. Even the puns and jokes are still fairly fresh.
July 16, 2015
When I first started out using Linux there just wasn't a good equivalent to word processors like Word. Abiword was available, but wasn't really stable and StarOffice (the software which would eventually become LibreOffice) was very slow and used inordinate amounts of memory. (It is worth pointing out that this was more than 15 years ago!).
Looking for a way to create documents I discovered LaTeX, a mark-up language which did the job. It has a steep learning curve, but the quality of the resultant files is worth the effort. At the time I learned what I needed to know from an older book, but as my knowledge expanded, and I wanted to be able to do more things the books I needed changed too. This book is now my first port of call, though I also refer to the LaTeX Companion books when I need to.
The subject matter is quite dry, but the style is easy going and quite readable, and with a useful, well constructed index it is easy to find what you need.
Looking for a way to create documents I discovered LaTeX, a mark-up language which did the job. It has a steep learning curve, but the quality of the resultant files is worth the effort. At the time I learned what I needed to know from an older book, but as my knowledge expanded, and I wanted to be able to do more things the books I needed changed too. This book is now my first port of call, though I also refer to the LaTeX Companion books when I need to.
The subject matter is quite dry, but the style is easy going and quite readable, and with a useful, well constructed index it is easy to find what you need.
August 9, 2021
I struggled to find a decent-looking LaTeX textbook from the last decade when I searched around, but I shouldn’t have worried about this one being out of date—this manual, by the system’s original author, has held up very nicely in the almost three decades since this version was published. Going from gawking at the Overleaf editor to being quite comfortable with LaTeX’s core commands, logical structure, syntax, etc. isn’t bad for an afternoon’s leisurely reading.
Arguably you’re “good to go” once you’ve finished the second chapter, as Lamport himself says, and will be able to make do by referring to this book’s index (or just Googling whatever you’re unsure about, since we do live in 2021, after all) but it’s worth reading Chapter 3 as well, as there’s a lot in there that you’re going to want to be able to use pretty quickly. From here on out, I imagine I’ll use this as an occasional reference but more likely—honestly—as a nice book to pick up and read for a bit.
I just think it’s neat. 5 stars.
Arguably you’re “good to go” once you’ve finished the second chapter, as Lamport himself says, and will be able to make do by referring to this book’s index (or just Googling whatever you’re unsure about, since we do live in 2021, after all) but it’s worth reading Chapter 3 as well, as there’s a lot in there that you’re going to want to be able to use pretty quickly. From here on out, I imagine I’ll use this as an occasional reference but more likely—honestly—as a nice book to pick up and read for a bit.
I just think it’s neat. 5 stars.
May 10, 2021
So I've been using LATEX for almost 20 years and even typed my entire PhD thesis in LATEX but only now did I decide to read the book.
Basically all those weird error messages I used to get now make more sense.
It also make me admire the amount of work that went into building the system, taking into account that the people who designed TEX and LATX were not typesetters by profession but computer scientists.
But I don't know if reading this will help me make sure images and tables appear exactly where I want them. To be fair this is also very difficult with WYSIWG editors like Word!
Basically all those weird error messages I used to get now make more sense.
It also make me admire the amount of work that went into building the system, taking into account that the people who designed TEX and LATX were not typesetters by profession but computer scientists.
But I don't know if reading this will help me make sure images and tables appear exactly where I want them. To be fair this is also very difficult with WYSIWG editors like Word!
August 20, 2021
This is a User Guide to the Latex Document Preparation System. If you use Latex or are likely to use Latex for writing (articles, papers, books, etc.), this Guide is indispensable.
Leslie Lamport is a clear thinker and a gifted writer. This book belongs in the league of Kernighan and Pike's The UNIX Programming Environment and Michael Lucas' Absolute FreeBSD.
Leslie Lamport is a clear thinker and a gifted writer. This book belongs in the league of Kernighan and Pike's The UNIX Programming Environment and Michael Lucas' Absolute FreeBSD.
July 2, 2025
está potente y esto para hacer el TFG te lo gozas bastante (esta no es una reseña para nada de pega con la que expandir el algoritmo de Goodreads y contar con varios resultados mucho más acordes a tu personalidad, entiendo).
May 16, 2026
Leslie Lamport originated LaTeX and wrote the book.
The classic book on LaTeX, the world's favorite typesetting and document preparation system.
I used Overleaf, a LaTeX platform, to create my book. It was an enjoyable and straightforward process.
Recommended.
The classic book on LaTeX, the world's favorite typesetting and document preparation system.
I used Overleaf, a LaTeX platform, to create my book. It was an enjoyable and straightforward process.
Recommended.
January 19, 2023
This book is very dense, but thankfully fairly well organized. I'd give a lot to have an updated version of it that is focused specifically on mathematics, but it's surprisingly usable despite being almost 40 years old. How often can you say that about anything technology related?
The book is an essential introduction to LaTEX, a page-layout language used extensively in mathematics because the addition of a couple of standard packages makes it an outstanding equation editor. Both Word and Pages support LaTEX to some extent, but if you need more than they have (if you're a mathematician, for example), then you need this book. There are other good LaTEX books out there, but they all assume you have access to this book or one very much like it.
If you have a programming background a lot of this will come easier as it's essentially a programming language specifically for page layouts, but even without that background this is written on a level that makes it very usable. The first two-thirds is instructive with the remaining third intended for reference, but it's not really a self-teaching guide (no exercises to check your understanding or let you use what you just learned). I recommend having a sample tex document to play with.
The book is an essential introduction to LaTEX, a page-layout language used extensively in mathematics because the addition of a couple of standard packages makes it an outstanding equation editor. Both Word and Pages support LaTEX to some extent, but if you need more than they have (if you're a mathematician, for example), then you need this book. There are other good LaTEX books out there, but they all assume you have access to this book or one very much like it.
If you have a programming background a lot of this will come easier as it's essentially a programming language specifically for page layouts, but even without that background this is written on a level that makes it very usable. The first two-thirds is instructive with the remaining third intended for reference, but it's not really a self-teaching guide (no exercises to check your understanding or let you use what you just learned). I recommend having a sample tex document to play with.
November 17, 2016
The book that changed publishing for the second time around in the analog-digital era. Lamport TeX, or LaTeX is one of the formats which are almost universally used in publishing houses today. If you're reading a nicely formatted book, chances are it was done by LaTeX. And it's the lifeblood of scholarly publishing. This is amazing to know even more so because the Computer Scientist behind the software (Leslie Lamport) was never a part of academia per se and yet he has had such a huge significance on publishing, Computer Science, and the world.
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November 11, 2009The book is great, the system seems overrated. Is this really going to save me time in the end? Let's hope that in three years when I've forgetten everything I'm writing about now, I'll be glad I used LaTeX.
December 10, 2014
In the late 80s and early 90s it was the book on LaTeX, a must-read. It is still very useful and I use it every other day as a quick reference, but there are many new features that are not covered by this book. In particular, do not look for multimedia-related material here.
May 2, 2022
A great resource to have so that you do not have to rely on potentially untrustworthy websites. I would recommend this and a manual of style to mathematicians, physicists, and anyone else who uses LaTeX.
November 12, 2007
Very nice reference material
September 14, 2008
super Einführung und Nachschlagewerk für das weltbeste Textsatzsystem
January 28, 2014
The definitive guide to the document system, done by the creator (based on the underlying TeX program by Donald Knuth).
November 28, 2014
My go-to reference for TEX.
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January 25, 2016A great introduction to LaTeX, even though the book is a bit old.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews