Book excerpt: The selective formation of bondings between molecules is one of the major challenges in organic chemistry, and the so-called aldol reaction is one of the most important for this purpose. These reactions are a highly useful tool for developing such novel substances as natural products and pharmaceuticals. Likes its highly successful and much appreciated predecessor, "Modern Aldol Reactions", this ready reference provides a systematic overview of methodologies for installing a required configuration during an aldol addition step, but shifts the focus so as to cover the latest developments. As such, it presents a set of brand new tools, including vinylogous Mukaiyama-aldol reactions and substrate-controlled aldol reactions, as well as asymmetric induction in aldol additions. Furthermore, new developments in existing stereoselective aldol additions are described, such as the deployment of supersilyl groups or organocatalyzed aldol additions. All of these methodologies are presented in the context of their deployment in the total synthesis of natural products.