Best Sandman Volume? (Was: Allan Moore Rocks)

<
>
> I'm not sure what that means, as Alan Moore's Swamp Thing was the
> ground breaking work that inspired Gaiman.  Sandman took it to the next
> level, but "he was the first to do what he did" doesn't describe
> Sandman at all.
>
> Many elements of Sandman were inspired by Swamp Thing, and the
> depiction of hell and Cain and Abel in a dream world environment are
> taken straight from Alan Moore.
>
> It's also probably no coincidence that Alan Moore's Constantine shows
> up in issue 2, early Sandman was horror in the Swamp Thing style, and
> both feature nearly omnipotent lead characters.
>
>

-- For a newbie to Gaiman, which would you say is the best Volume of the 
Sandman series?
Should they (do they need to be) read in order? My local library has all
the 
volumes but I have a lot
on my plate to read and would like to focus on what would give me the best

taste of what Gaiman is all about.

Cheers,
-Robert.