Book excerpt: The articles in this volume study various cohomological aspects of algebraic varieties: - characteristic classes of singular varieties; - geometry of flag varieties; - cohomological computations for homogeneous spaces; - K-theory of algebraic varieties; - quantum cohomology and Gromov-Witten theory. The main purpose is to give comprehensive introductions to the above topics through a series of "friendly" texts starting from a very elementary level and ending with the discussion of current research. In the articles, the reader will find classical results and methods as well as new ones. Numerous examples will help to understand the mysteries of the cohomological theories presented. The book will be a useful guide to research in the above-mentioned areas. It is adressed to researchers and graduate students in algebraic geometry, algebraic topology, and singularity theory, as well as to mathematicians interested in homogeneous varieties and symmetric functions. Most of the material exposed in the volume has not appeared in books before. Contributors: Paolo Aluffi Michel Brion Anders Skovsted Buch Haibao Duan Ali Ulas Ozgur Kisisel Piotr Pragacz Jörg Schürmann Marek Szyjewski Harry Tamvakis