This book grew out of lectures delivered at the University of California, Berkeley, over many years. The subject is a part of asymptotics in statistics, organized around a few central ideas. The presentation proceeds from the general to the particular since this seemed the best way to emphasize the basic concepts. The reader is expected to have been exposed to statistical thinking and methodology, as expounded for instance in the book by H. Cramer 1946] or the more recent text by P. Bickel and K. Doksum 1977]. Another pos sibility, closer to the present in spirit, is Ferguson 1967]....

This is the second edition of a coherent introduction to the subject of asymptotic statistics as it has developed over the past 50 years. It differs from the first edition in that it is now more 'reader friendly' and also includes a new chapter on Gaussian and Poisson experiments, reflecting their growing role in the field. Most of the subsequent chapters have been entirely rewritten and the nonparametrics of Chapter 7 have been amplified. The volume is not intended to replace monographs on specialized subjects, but will help to place them in a coherent perspective. It thus represents a link...