Book excerpt: This book provides a summary of state-of-the-art methods and research in the analysis of credit. It thereby supplies very useful insights into this vital area of finance that has previously been insufficiently taught and researched in academia. The book, which includes an overview of processes that are utilized for estimating the probability of default and the loss given default for a wide array of debts, will be useful in evaluating individual loans and bonds as well as managing entire portfolios of such assets. Each of the chapters in the book is written by authors who presented and discussed their contemporary research and knowledge at the First International Conference on Credit Analysis and Risk Management that was held July 21–23, 2011 at Oakland University, Michigan, USA. This collection of writings by these experts in the field is uniquely designed to enhance the understanding of credit analysis in a fashion that permits a broad perspective on the science and art of credit analysis.