This book by Yeo V. Stupochenko, S. A. Losev and A. I. Osipov distin- guishes itself as an unusually comprehensive treatment of both the the- oretical and experimental aspects of the subject of relaxation processes in shock waves. S. A. Losev has done a considerable amount of work in molec- ular absorption spectroscopy of gases in relaxation, and, consequently, the chapter on experimental methods of study of nonequilibrium phenomena in shock waves has turned out to be particularly extensive in both scope and depth. A. I. Osipov has contributed extensively to the theoretical understanding of...