This is perhaps the most up-to-date book on Modern Elementary Particle Physics. The main content is an introduction to Yang-Mills fields, and the Standard Model of Particle Physics. A concise introduction to quarks is provided, with a discussion of the representations of SU(3).

The Standard Model is presented in detail, including such topics as the Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix, chiral symmetry breaking, and the θ-vacuum. Theoretical topics of a more general nature include path integrals, topological solitons, renormalization group, effective potentials, the axial anomaly, and lattice gauge theory.

This second edition, which has been expanded, incorporates the following new subjects: Wilson's renormalization scheme, and its relation to perturbative renormalization; pitfalls in quantizing gauge fields, such as the Gribov ambiguity; the lattice as a consistent regularization; Monte Carlo methods of solution; and the issues, folklores, and scenarios of quark confinement. More than a quarter of the book comprise of new materials.

This book may be used as a text for a one-semester course on advanced quantum field theory, or reference book for particle physicists.