Hi I'm after some advice on books about welding so I can have a full understanding of the in & outs of welding, buying the right machine & gas etc, so if someone can point me in the right direction to a good one .
For the answers to the questions you give as examples, and many others, I suggest this website contains a lot more useful information than any book. The search engine, tutorials and forum sub-sections are useful starting points, e.g. there are sections on buying a welder, as well as a separate guide, plus another section all about shielding gas. What more could anyone need?
failing that you could go down to your local library they should have some info but as george says there is a wealth of info on here and from people that actually use the equipment not those that just have the qualifications on paper.
members will be quite happy to answer you questions how ever many you wish to ask
Two books i found useful were,farm and workshop welding and the performance welding handbook, both good in their way but you'll struggle to find and all in one book that is comprehensive, i found it better to gather information myself from various websites, that and learning by mistakes, this can often be the best way.