The first edition of this higly regarded text was published in 1979 to provide a general introduction to the principles of plant breeding. It has been out of print since late 1993 and a new edition is long overdue as there are no up to date and comprehensive single volumes on the subject in print. The original text has been amended and enhanced where there have been advances in plant breeding to provide coverage of recent developments relevant to crop improvement which as intellectual property rights, biotechnology and the use and conservation of genetic resources. The emphasis of the text will be, as it was for the first edition, on the principles of plant breeding and the expanded range of techniques now available for effective crop improvement.