It's written in an approachable, almost conversational style.
Beyond that, for a broader view of algorithms and computing that includes AI, there's Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach by Russell/Norvig. My favorite part of that book is actually the "Foundations of Artificial Intelligence" which goes into the deep history of computation (as far back as ancient and medieval times).
Upvote for P&D&V; a top-notch free (CC BY-ND 3.0 CZ) Czech algorithm textbook (http://pruvodce.ucw.cz/) was based primarily on their book (because it's excellent!).
http://algorithmics.lsi.upc.edu/docs/Dasgupta-Papadimitriou-...
It's written in an approachable, almost conversational style.
Beyond that, for a broader view of algorithms and computing that includes AI, there's Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach by Russell/Norvig. My favorite part of that book is actually the "Foundations of Artificial Intelligence" which goes into the deep history of computation (as far back as ancient and medieval times).