Summer School in Group Theory in Banff 1996

The third annual CRM Summer School took place in Banff (Alberta, Canada) and was aimed toward advanced students and recent PhDs. This volume presents surveys from the group theory part of the theme year and examines different approaches to the topic: a geometric approach, an approach using methods from logic, and an approach with roots in the Bass-Serre theory of groups acting on trees. The work offers a concise introduction to current directions of research in combinatorial group theory. Surveys in the text are by leading researchers in the field who are experienced expositors. The text is suitable for use in a graduate course in geometric and combinatorial group theory.