Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach by Stuart Russel and Peter Norvig is book introducing the reader to a wide range of AI topics. From the traditional Search problems to Natural Language Processing, this book has it all. It brims with a lot of detail and is suited to anyone with an interest in AI. If you want an introduction to this -sometimes daunting- field, this book is for you.
Even though it doesn’t go in great detail in all topics, it offers a thorough investigation of most of them. The extra detail does not come with extra complications, thankfully, with the more advanced ideas covered in as clean a manner as the more basic ones. There is pseudocode for most of the algorithms (and more is added with each edition) and there are a lot of examples, all of which make understanding and following the concepts so much more easier.
What stands out for this book is how well written it is. Everyone can pick it up with the most basic of backgrounds and they will understand and enjoy it. The prose is clear and at times even playful and colorful. This, on top of the great and simple explanations, makes studying it a joy.
If you are interested in a guide in the fast growing field of Artificial Intelligence, look no further than this book. I cannot recommend it enough.