[DanBC]

But you should read it cover to cover. You should buy a notebook; and some basic electronics equipment (and there's probably free simulation that's good enough online now) and work through it.

Draw the diagrams (freehand!), do the math (on paper, not with a calculator!), do the examples.

It's dense because it's complete (for the time, there's a lot of stuff that's missing for modern world) and it's terse because you're supposed to be doing the work at the same time.

And, if you really want to get in depth understanding you buy the AoE Lab-book and build stuff while you're reading the main text.