Book excerpt: The basics, present status and future prospects of high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) are described in the form of a textbook for advanced undergraduates and graduate students. This volume covers recent achievements in the field of STEM obtained with advanced technologies such as spherical aberration correction, monochromator, high-sensitivity electron energy loss spectroscopy and the software of image mapping. The future prospects chapter also deals with z-slice imaging and confocal STEM for 3D analysis of nanostructured materials.