The book that got me started was the Brooklyn Brew Shop's Beer Making Book. I'd wanted to start brewing, but didn't have much space, and everything seemed to be geared to doing 19L, 23L or more batches. During a visit to New York, I spoke to a girl manning the Brooklyn Brew Shop's stand at a Christmas Market. Their whole premise it 1 gallon brewing (US - but I've converted to UK gallon, or rather 4.5L).
In the book they basically heat water on a large pot, pop in the grain, stir, turn off the heat and mash for 60-75min, checking temperature every 10mins. If the temperature gets too low, turn on the heat and stir until the temperature is right again. At the end they "mash out", which is raising the temperature to make it easier to get the converted sugar out of the grains.
The next step is the sparge: heat water in a seperate pan, place a large sieve over a big pot or bucket, pour the grains in the sieve, then rinse the grain with the extra water, then re-circulate all the collected liquid (wort) through the grains.
Then on to the boil, where you boil the wort with hops and other flavourings as required by your recipe. You then cool the wort, transfer it to your fermenting vessel (FV) and pitch the yeast.
I don't quite follow this method; before I started, I did some research (and joined this forum), and in that process read How To Brew by John Palmer, an online version available here:
http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html
One thing I came across in this book was the problem of Hot Side Aeration (he doesn't use that term, but many do), which is oxidation your wort while it's still hot; this is thought to contribute to premature staling of your beer. HSA is a much debated issue - some say it's a myth, some that it's of little importance, while others believe it's more significant than most brewers realise and reccomend trying it out for themselves by brew one batch where oxidation is carefully minimized and one where you do everything you can to aerate the wort whilst hot (according to some until cooler than 30 Celcius). By comparing the end results you should be able to see for yourself the effect of HSA.
I was worried about long-term stability, because I have family in Denmark and I'd like to be able to share my brews with them when they visit, but as that doesn't happen all the time, I thought I'd better try to avoid HSA, which is why I built the mash-tun. It is basically a bucket-in-a-bucket, the inside bucket has a load of holes drilled into it, making a false bottom, which acts as a sieve. The outer bucket has a drain in the centre of the bottom with a pipe - the cooler is there for insulation. Have another look at the build, and I think you'll see what I mean.
Whether you go with a colander or a mash-tun is up to you.
Hope that answers your questions, feel free to ask if you have more!
Dennis
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