Supersymmetry, strings and branes are believed to be the essential ingredients in a single unified consistent theory of physics. This book gives a detailed, step-by-step introduction to the theoretical foundations required for research in strings and branes. After a study of the different formulations of the bosonic and supersymmetric point particles, the classical and quantum bosonic and supersymmetric string theories are presented. This book includes accounts of brane dynamics and D-branes and the T, S and U duality symmetries of string theory. The historical derivation of string theory is...