Book excerpt: A wide variety of materials systems and deposition strategies have been developed to produce epitaxial and polycrystalline thin films. In particular, controlling the morphology and microstructure of metal films at the nanometer and/or micron scale has become crucial for applications such as giant magnetoresistive devices, contacts and diffusion barriers in integrated circuits and photovoltaics, and multilayer X-ray mirrors. This book, first published in 2001, focuses on the interactions between different mechanisms of microstructure evolution and film-growth conditions. Two sections of the volume, including a joint effort with Symposium R, Morphology and Dynamics of Crystal Surfaces in Molecular and Colloid Systems, highlight the fundamental mechanisms of epitaxial growth. Additional topics include: multilayers - stress in thin films; early stages of film growth - mechanical properties; texture in polycrystalline films; grain growth - barrier layers; and silicides and organic thin films - pulsed laser deposition.