Book excerpt: Galois theory is one of the most beautiful subjects in mathematics, but it is heard to appreciate this fact fully without seeing specific examples. Numerous examples are therefore included throughout the text, in the hope that they will lead to a deeper understanding and genuine appreciation of the more abstract and advanced literature on Galois theory. This book is intended for beginning graduate students who already have some background in algebra, including some elementary theoryof groups, rings and fields. The expositions and proofs are intended to present Galois theory in as simple a manner as possible, sometimes at the expense of brevity. The book is for students and intends to make them take an active part in mathematics rather than merely read, nod their heads atappropriate places, skip the exercises, and continue on to the next section.