The author succeeds admirably in his goal of providing an introduction to semigroup theory suitable for graduate students and non-specialists. At the same time, specialists will also find much to attract them. The book is highly readable, and the author takes pain to lead the reader gently through the longer proofs. I am sure that all specialists will want to own a copy of the book, that non-specialists will find it a most attractive and useful book for consulting, and that for many years to come research students will learn their subject from this book.

• 1. Introductory ideas ; 2. Green's equivalences; regular semigroups ; 3. 0-simple semigroups ; 4. Completely regular semigroups ; 5. Inverse semigroups ; 6. Other classes of regular semigroups ; 7. Free semigroups ; 8. Semigroup amalgams ; References ; List of symbols