In the present volume, Phillip J. Siemens, who has been a seminal contributor to our understanding of the nucleus as a many-body system, and his able collabourator, Aksel S. Jensen, introduce graduate students and colleagues in other fields to the basic concepts of nuclear physics in a way which connects clearly the methods of nuclear physics with those of condensed matter, atomic, and particle physics. Their book thus provides a lucid introduction to the key facts and concepts of nuclei, including many of the most recent developments, while emphasizing the similarities and the differences between the behaviour of nuclei, atoms, elementary particles, and condensed matter, It should thus prove useful, not only as a text for an introductory graduate course in nuclear physics, but as a reference book for all scientists interested in a unified picture of our understanding of physical phenomena associated with many-body systems.