Rapid progress in the field of sialic acids has made it desirable to collect the new data about these unique sugars and to continue the series of books on this topic. In 1960, A. GOTTSCHALK wrote "The Chemistry and Biology of Sialic Acids and Related Substances" (Cambridge University Press) and in 1976, A. ROSENBERG and C. -L. SCHENGRUND published "Biological Roles of Sialic Acids" (Plenum Press). In this book emphasis is given to various modern methods used in the isolation and analysis of sialic acids. New approaches to the synthesis of free and bound sialic acids are described and the vast...