[Math] Best books on Representation theory

Question

What are some of the best books on Representation theory for a beginner? I would prefer a book which gives motivation behind definitions and theory.

Answer 1

I would recommend Reprentations and Characters of Groups by Liebeck and James (a word to the wise though, the notation is all backwards for some reason! e.g if memory serves correct, $\phi(x)$ is written $(x)\phi$ etc). I found what I read of Linear Representations of Finite Groups by Serre to be nice to, if not harder. When I was studying Group Rep I found these two sets of notes to be useful also:

http://www2.imperial.ac.uk/~epsegal/repthy/Group%20representation%20theory.pdf

http://tartarus.org/gareth/maths/notes/ii/Representation_Theory.pdf

Again the second recommendation being harder than the first.