That's a bit unfair, Hopcroft and Ullman is extensive and detailed by design. They invented the field AFAIK so this book ought to be deep as they use it to lay

That's a bit unfair, Hopcroft and Ullman is extensive and detailed by design. They invented the field AFAIK so this book ought to be deep as they use it to lay its foundations. If you - or lurkers - are looking for a solid, down-to-earth exploration of automata theory - but not so much proofs, then I would recommend these in no particular order: - "Introduction to the Theory of Computation" [Part I] by M. Sipser - "Introduction to Compiler Design" by Torben A. Mogensen - "An introduction to Formal Languages and Automata" by P. Linz - "Languages and Machines" by Thomas A. Sudkamp >Many of OP's objections come off as petty I have had the book in my hands, I have turned the pages and seen the typesetting myself. It's not an exaggeration. It looks like one of those books written by a typewriter with some of the lines are misaligned, except it wasn't and that is overall a pain to parse. Also the pages are small and margins wide. Why inflict that upon yourself when there are plenty of other books that show a modicum of effort in editing.