Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is the language used to beautify Web pages by giving developers control over fonts, colors, the spacing and positioning of text and graphical elements, and more. In the hands of a pro, CSS can make web pages look beautiful, but mastery of the art of CSS is no simple matter.

Peter Gasston's second edition of "The Book of CSS3" (No Starch Press, Nov 2014, 304 pp., $34.95) is a sophisticated, informative guide to CSS3 for the experienced developer. With revised coverage of the updated syntax of gradients, grids, and flexible box layout, as well as all-new chapters on values and sizing, and graphical effects like filter effects and blend modes, this book shows readers what CSS3 can do now, in all major browsers.

According to No Starch Press founder Bill Pollock, "The CSS3 specs can be really obtuse, even for experienced web programmers, but Gasston is unusually good at distilling the spec's dense technical language into plain English."

To that end, the real-world examples in "The Book of CSS3" (http://tinyurl.com/moyk3yj) demonstrate concepts like how to:

° Style text with custom font choices, drop shadows, and other effects;

° Create, position, and resize background images on the fly;

° Spice up static web pages with event-driven transitions and animations;

° Apply 2D and 3D transformations to text and images;

° Use linear and radial gradients to create smooth color transitions;

° Take control of layout with grids, columns, and flexible alignment;

° Tailor a website's appearance to every type of web-capable device.

Gasston has been a web developer for more than 12 years in both agency and corporate settings. One of the original contributors to CSS3.info, the leading online destination for CSS3, he's the author of "The Modern Web" (No Starch Press) and has been published in Smashing Magazine, A List Apart, and net magazine. He also runs the web development blog Broken Links. He lives in London, England.