Book excerpt: This is the first of two volumes representing the current state of knowledge about Enriques surfaces which occupy one of the classes in the classification of algebraic surfaces. Recent improvements in our understanding of algebraic surfaces over fields of positive characteristic allowed us to approach the subject from a completely geometric point of view although heavily relying on algebraic methods. Some of the techniques presented in this book can be applied to the study of algebraic surfaces of other types. We hope that it will make this book of particular interest to a wider range of research mathematicians and graduate students. Acknowledgements. The undertaking of this project was made possible by the support of several institutions. Our mutual cooperation began at the University of Warwick and the Max Planck Institute of Mathematics in 1982/83. Most of the work in this volume was done during the visit of the first author at the University of Michigan in 1984-1986. The second author was supported during all these years by grants from the National Science Foundation.