From the reviews: "This fundamental and interesting monograph is devoted to the history (and not only) of a remarkable and rich branch of up-to-date mathematics... I recommend this book to all who are interested in Functional Analysis, to beginners and researchers, all students and all professors who deal with Functional Analysis and its applications. And I think that this book will be useful to each mathematical library."-Zantralblatt Math "Pietsch's treatment of the early stages of Banach space theory and related areas is very nice and interesting. It contains much information I was not aware of before reading this book. ... it can give the novice to the subject a good overview of what Banach space theory is about. ... The book is written in a friendly style and is very readable. ... I recommend this book to anyone interested in functional analysis ... and even to the general mathematical community." (Joram Lindenstrauss, Mathematical Reviews, Issue 2008 i) "There is a relatively large amount of works devoted to the prehistory of functional analysis and its birth in the classical Banach period, but this monograph is exceptional in its focus on the whole 20th century. ... the author ... has successfully brought together a respectable amount of material concerning Banach spaces and linear operators. ... The book will be certainly useful not only to researchers, but also to students. ... I can warmly recommend this book 'to all who love Banach spaces.'" (Antonin Slavik, Mathematica Bohemica, Issue 2, 2010)

• The Birth of Banach Spaces.- Historical Roots and Basic Results.- Topological Concepts — Weak Topologies.- Classical Banach Spaces.- Basic Results from the Post-Banach Period.- Modern Banach Space Theory — Selected Topics.- Miscellaneous Topics.- Mathematics Is Made by Mathematicians.

From the reviews: "This fundamental and interesting monograph is devoted to the history (and not only) of a remarkable and rich branch of up-to-date mathematics... I recommend this book to all who are interested in Functional Analysis, to beginners and researchers, all students and all professors who deal with Functional Analysis and its applications. And I think that this book will be useful to each mathematical library."-Zantralblatt Math "Pietsch's treatment of the early stages of Banach space theory and related areas is very nice and interesting. It contains much information I was not aware of before reading this book. ... it can give the novice to the subject a good overview of what Banach space theory is about. ... The book is written in a friendly style and is very readable. ... I recommend this book to anyone interested in functional analysis ... and even to the general mathematical community." (Joram Lindenstrauss, Mathematical Reviews, Issue 2008 i) "There is a relatively large amount of works devoted to the prehistory of functional analysis and its birth in the classical Banach period, but this monograph is exceptional in its focus on the whole 20th century. ... the author ... has successfully brought together a respectable amount of material concerning Banach spaces and linear operators. ... The book will be certainly useful not only to researchers, but also to students. ... I can warmly recommend this book 'to all who love Banach spaces.'" (Antonin Slavik, Mathematica Bohemica, Issue 2, 2010)

• The Birth of Banach Spaces.- Historical Roots and Basic Results.- Topological Concepts — Weak Topologies.- Classical Banach Spaces.- Basic Results from the Post-Banach Period.- Modern Banach Space Theory — Selected Topics.- Miscellaneous Topics.- Mathematics Is Made by Mathematicians.

From the reviews: "This fundamental and interesting monograph is devoted to the history (and not only) of a remarkable and rich branch of up-to-date mathematics... I recommend this book to all who are interested in Functional Analysis, to beginners and researchers, all students and all professors who deal with Functional Analysis and its applications. And I think that this book will be useful to each mathematical library."-Zantralblatt Math "Pietsch's treatment of the early stages of Banach space theory and related areas is very nice and interesting. It contains much information I was not aware of before reading this book. ... it can give the novice to the subject a good overview of what Banach space theory is about. ... The book is written in a friendly style and is very readable. ... I recommend this book to anyone interested in functional analysis ... and even to the general mathematical community." (Joram Lindenstrauss, Mathematical Reviews, Issue 2008 i) "There is a relatively large amount of works devoted to the prehistory of functional analysis and its birth in the classical Banach period, but this monograph is exceptional in its focus on the whole 20th century. ... the author ... has successfully brought together a respectable amount of material concerning Banach spaces and linear operators. ... The book will be certainly useful not only to researchers, but also to students. ... I can warmly recommend this book 'to all who love Banach spaces.'" (Antonin Slavik, Mathematica Bohemica, Issue 2, 2010)

• The Birth of Banach Spaces.- Historical Roots and Basic Results.- Topological Concepts — Weak Topologies.- Classical Banach Spaces.- Basic Results from the Post-Banach Period.- Modern Banach Space Theory — Selected Topics.- Miscellaneous Topics.- Mathematics Is Made by Mathematicians.