Book excerpt: Structural analysis, or the 'theory of structures', is an important subject for civil engineering students who are required to analyse and design structures. It is a vast field and is largely taught at the undergraduate level. A few topics like matrix method and plastic analysis are also taught at the postgraduate level and in Structural Engineering electives. The entire course has been covered in two volumes—Structural Analysis-I and II. Structural Analysis-II deals in depth with the analysis of indeterminate structures, and also special topics like curved beams and unsymmetrical bending. It provides an introduction to advanced methods of analysis, namely, matrix method and plastic analysis. SALIENT FEATURES • Systematic explanation of concepts and underlying theory in each chapter • Numerous solved problems presented methodically • University examination questions solved in many chapters • A set of exercises to test the student's ability in solving them correctly NEW IN THE FOURTH EDITION • Thoroughly reworked computations • Objective type questions and review questions • A revamped summary for each chapter • Redrawing of some diagrams