Book excerpt: The fields of glycochemistry and glycoscience are rich and varied and where much can be learned from Nature. As Nature is not always able to produce carbohydrates in quantities useful for not only in research but also as therapeutic agents, new ways need to be found to optimize the yield. This book presents an overview of the latest developments in the field of carbohydrates, ranging from de-novo approaches via cyclodextrin chemistry to the synthesis of such highly complex glycoconjugates as glycosphingolipids and GPI anchors. The main emphasis remains on the synthetic aspects making the book an excellent source of information for those already involved in carbohydrate chemistry, as well as for those organic chemists who are beginners in this field. Equally of interest to synthetic chemists, as well as medicinal chemists and biochemists.