Starting with the history of the discovery of X-rays by Roentgen and the subsequent formalization of diffraction laws by Von Laue, Bragg and others, it covers the essential fundamentals of crystallography and the theory of X-ray generation and of the interaction of X-rays with matter. X-ray diffraction theory is covered in detail, serving as an excellent background to the following chapters the application procedures such as the laue, the rotating crystal and the powder techniques. Reciprocal lattice theory is introduced with the necessary vector algebra and the relationship between reciprocal lattice and diffraction, which the student has generally some difficulty in understanding in the beginning, has been brought out elegantly. The chapters on film techniques are followed by one on the X-ray diffractometer and its applications. Specific applications such as crystal structure determination, accurate determination of lattice parameters, single crystal studies, studies of crystallographic texture, stress measurement, order-disorder transformation, phase diagram determination are covered in sufficient detail in the next chapters. There is a final chapter on the use of X-ray diffraction in chemical analysis. The list of topics covered is quite comprehensive. The treatment of topics in each chapter is sufficiently exhaustive for undergraduate and graduate courses in X-ray diffraction, not only for metallurgists and materials scientists/engineers, but also for other disciplines requiring the study of X-ray diffraction. The book is very well-written and the examples, solved and unsolved, at the end of various chapters will benefit the students greatly in understanding the concepts underlying them