Sgml
DocBook: The Definitive Guide (O'Reilly XML)
Format: Paperback
Author: Norman Walsh
ReleaseDate: 01 October, 1999
Publisher: O'Reilly Media
Rating:
Great reference to help you build your DTD...
The matter of the fact is that, no matter how much brain you put into the creation of a multi-purpose DTD: these guys thought it over several times a while before you, but granted that you might not have a use for a vast majority of the elements presented in DocBook, it will help get your feet out of the mud when in trouble and you don't know how to deal with a very particular situation. If you are (like I am) in a situation where you need to serve two masters with a DTD you're trying to build (the online and the print world), after your first or second rough passes at putting it together yourself (there's a great many tools out there to help you in this, of which I personally recommend XMLSpy from Altova), then is when O'Reilly's DocBook will come in handy. The only "negative" part about it is that, with its print date of 1999, it is clearly outdated, but who cares, when even an outdated version of the standard will be considerably better than what you can come up with on your own!.
Nice, but not really required
You can download a copy of the reference guide for free, so why would you need a hard copy? I think the main reason for buying this book is to say thank you to Norman Walsh, we has been the DocBook lead for ages, and we all know he does a great job. The problem with this book is never up to date with the latest and gratest DocBook stuff. From that perspective, this book is definitely a must.
Definitive Guide 
Not only is it useful for the new user, like I was, it has a comprehensive reference section for all the elements of the DocBook SGML. I recommend this book to anyone starting on the road to DocBook.
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