Book excerpt: "The book contains an enormous amount of information — mathematical, bibliographical and historical — interwoven with some outstanding heuristic discussions." — Mathematical Reviews. In this massive graduate-level study, Emeritus Professor Edwards (Australian National University, Canberra) presents a balanced account of both the abstract theory and the applications of linear functional analysis. Written for readers with a basic knowledge of set theory, general topology, and vector spaces, the book includes an abundance of carefully chosen illustrative examples and excellent exercises at the end of each chapter. Beginning with a chapter of preliminaries on set theory and topology, Dr. Edwards then presents detailed, in-depth discussions of vector spaces and topological vector spaces, the Hahn-Banach theorem (including applications to potential theory, approximation theory, game theory, and other fields) and fixed-point theorems. Subsequent chapters focus on topological duals of certain spaces: radon measures, distribution and linear partial differential equations, open mapping and closed graph theorems, boundedness principles, duality theory, the theory of compact operators and the Krein-Milman theorem and its applications to commutative harmonic analysis. Clearly and concisely written, Dr. Edwards's book offers rewarding reading to mathematicians and physicists with an interest in the important field of functional analysis. Because of the broad scope of its coverage, this volume will be especially valuable to the reader with a basic knowledge of functional analysis who wishes to learn about parts of the subject other than his own specialties. A comprehensive 32-page bibliography supplies a rich source of references to the basic literature.