This book is a collection of lecture notes for seven courses presented at the Astrophysics School VII, organized by the European Astrophysics Doctoral Network and held at San Miniato, Italy, in October 1994. The topics of each of the seven courses are independent of each other. This has the advantage that most readers with a general interest in astrophysics are likely to find some courses of particular interest, but has the disadvantage that there is no obvious theme or overview of the subject matter covered. As with any collection of lecture notes, there is considerable diversity in style, length and depth of coverage of the specific topic. The notes are arranged into four sections on basic theory: magnetic reconnection by D Biskamp (30 pages), winds by J Heyvaerts (70 pages), particle acceleration by J Kuijpers (62 pages) and turbulence by A Pouquet (50 pages) and three sections on observational and instrumental methods: radio by A O Benz (28 pages), x-ray spectroscopy by R Pallavicini (44 pages) and x-ray instrumentation by H W Schnopper (41 pages). The level of each of the courses is appropriate for a graduate student with a background in physics. All four basic theory courses presuppose that the reader has some knowledge of MHD theory. The usefulness of a book such as this is strongly dependent on whether or not it contains material in a form or style that is not readily available elsewhere. Based on this criterion, this reviewer considers the book a useful addition to his library. Worth particular mention are the notes on rotating MHD winds in which Heyvaerts provides a systematic, self-contained and thorough introduction to a field that has not been reviewed extensively. The notes on turbulence by Pouquet contain material that is not readily available to most astrophysicists, and although these notes are not as readable as those by Heyvaerts, this is offset by extensive references to the literature. This reviewer is familiar with most of the subject matter in the notes by Biskamp, Kuijpers, Benz and Pallavicini, and found each of them well presented, with a balance between review of background ideas and introduction to current research. The notes by Schnopper are a summary of past, present and planned x-ray spacecraft, together with description of the observational techniques used. In brief, this book is likely to be a useful addition to any astrophysicist's library. This reviewer will value it particularly for the notes by Heyvaerts on MHD winds.