PH Winston's books are exactly what you are looking for: On To Java, On To C, On To C++, On To SmallTalk. They appeared around 2000 and are now on the web: htt

PH Winston's books are exactly what you are looking for: On To Java, On To C, On To C++, On To SmallTalk. They appeared around 2000 and are now on the web: http://people.csail.mit.edu/phw/OnToC/ http://people.csail.mit.edu/phw/OnToC/ etc. They are written in an unusual format built around slides rather than pages - even the printed versions.