Book excerpt: This book contains a collection of articles summarizing the state of knowledge in a large portion of modern homotopy theory. A call for articles was made on the occasion of an emphasis semester organized by the Centre de Recerca Matemtica in Bellaterra (Barcelona) in 1998. The main topics treated in the book include abstract features of stable and unstable homotopy, homotopical localizations, p-compact groups, H-spaces, classifying spaces for proper actions, cohomology of discrete groups, K-theory and other generalized cohomology theories, configuration spaces, and Lusternik-Schnirelmann category. The book is addressed to all mathematicians interested in homotopy theory and in geometric aspects of group theory. New research directions in topology are highlighted. Moreover, this informative and educational book serves as a welcome reference for many new results and recent methods.