This useful book, which grew out of the author's lectures at Berkeley, presents some 400 exercises of varying degrees of difficulty in classical ring theory, together with complete solutions, background information, historical commentary, bibliographic details, and indications of possible improvements or generalizations. The book should be especially helpful to graduate students as a model of the problem-solving process and an illustration of the applications of different theorems in ring theory. The author also discusses "the folklore of the subject: the tricks of the trade' in ring theory,...

Textbook writing must be one of the cruelest of self-inflicted tortures. - Carl Faith Math Reviews 54: 5281 So why didn't I heed the warning of a wise colleague, especially one who is a great expert in the subject of modules and rings? The answer is simple: I did not learn about it until it was too late My writing project in ring theory started in 1983 after I taught a year-long course in the subject at Berkeley. My original plan was to write up my lectures and publish them as a graduate text in a couple of years. My hopes of carrying out this plan on schedule were, however, quickly dashed...