Algebra (Cambridge Mathematical Textbooks)

I've had this book for a few days so far. From a first look it looks pretty decent. But it failed to excite me in the way Aluffi's 'Algebra: Chapter 0' did by its freshness of organization and presentation.The material and presentation is more or less what can be found in other good undergraduate books like Artin or Lang's undergraduate text. The innovations are having rings first and a greater sprinkling of commutative diagrams, but I'm not sure either actually makes the subject more accessible or interesting for the beginner.Also, so far I have not been able to understand the reason for the Dostoevsky reference in the subtitle. Need to figure that out.

This is a phenomenal book. The content is broad, the examples plentiful, the prose is engaging, and the exercises are inviting and accessible.