Recommend me a book on economics

[Bumperslucious]

Can anyone recommend me a book on economics. I've read freakonomics, but I was looking for something more generic and less gimicky. I just want to understand things like how exchange rates work, interest rates etc.

I've got an economics text book from the library which while interesting and comprehensive is quite a chore to read. I'm looking for something a bit less dry.

Thanks

Robert Peston's blog is excellent. So maybe his book here.

Haven't read it myself though.

Thanks bamboo, I'll check it out.

GK Galbraith is very readable, and also he is a proper economist - the Affluent Society is the latest. He makes interesting and illuminating points, but he is making a point, along the lines of freakamonics but less polemic.

If you could find something short by J M Keynes that might do the trick - can't remember any titles sadly. Or James Trevithick (?spelling?) wrote a short book called Inflation which was a standard university text 20 years ago, also nice and short. Not sure if it's still in print.