Book excerpt: Hyperbolic Manifolds and Discrete Groups is at the crossroads of several branches of mathematics: hyperbolic geometry, discrete groups, 3-dimensional topology, geometric group theory, and complex analysis. The main focus throughout the text is on the "Big Monster," i.e., on Thurston’s hyperbolization theorem, which has not only completely changes the landscape of 3-dimensinal topology and Kleinian group theory but is one of the central results of 3-dimensional topology. The book is fairly self-contained, replete with beautiful illustrations, a rich set of examples of key concepts, numerous exercises, and an extensive bibliography and index. It should serve as an ideal graduate course/seminar text or as a comprehensive reference.