Herstein or Herstein? I read somewhere that Herstein would prepare me nicely (abstract algebra-wise) for grad studies. I don't remember where I read it and now that I was about to buy the book I found out that there two Hersteins:
Topics in Algebra (Amazon Link)
and
Abstract Algebra (Amazon Link)
I wanted to figure out whether one is more advanced than the other or whether one is sequel to the other.
So I looked at both TOCs on Amazon and saw that Topics in Algebra is about 100 pages longer. Then I tried to figure out which one is more advanced by comparing. But it's kind of confusing because for example in just the group theory part, in one book there is a chapter ''Factor groups'' whereas in the other book the chapter is called ''Normal subgroups and Quotient groups''. 
Now I don't know much more. So my question is:

Is one of the two Hersteins a sequel to the other, that is, are they
  meant to be read in a particular order?

And:

Is one of them more advanced than the other?

And:

Is it a good idea to read both? 

I cannot tell how much overlap there is.
 A: Answers:


*

*Neither book is meant as a sequel, they are independent texts.

*The more advanced (and more generally well-accepted) book is Topics in Algebra.

*It's always a good idea to read more (especially in mathematics), but generally I would advise (a) to read more than one author and (b) to read something other than Herstein's Abstract Algebra. 


Additional comments, respectively:


*

*No further comment.

*I don't know of any occasion where somebody has referred to an algebra book as "Herstein" and has been referring to Abstract Algebra - they always mean Topics in Algebra. To add to this point, Topics in Algebra is highly recommended on the Chicago undergraduate mathematics bibliography, while Abstract Algebra isn't mentioned.

*If you're looking towards graduate studies, you might want to check out Abstract Algebra by Dummit/Foote instead. If that's too heavy (also, perhaps too hard at this stage), an oft-recommended text is Fraleigh's A First Course in Abstract Algebra.

A: Topic in Algebra by Herstein was published in $1964$ while Abstract Algebra was published in $1986$. Most widely Topics is considered as a classical book in abstract algebra. Topics is I think best for the subject. I don't know they are sequels or not as Topics is an advanced book. Very well written and exciting. I think everybody should read Topics. I will recommend you to start with Topics if you like to.
