The abstract concepts of metric spaces are often perceived as difficult. This book offers a unique approach to the subject which gives readers the advantage of a new perspective on ideas familiar from the analysis of a real line. Rather than passing quickly from the definition of a metric to the more abstract concepts of convergence and continuity, the author takes the concrete notion of distance as far as possible, illustrating the text with examples and naturally arising questions. Attention to detail at this stage is designed to prepare the reader to understand the more abstract ideas with relative ease.