Lemaitre and Chaboche discuss a modern method of mathematically modeling these phenomena based on the behavior of macroscopic volume elements, independent of the body under investigation. The book is self-contained and the first three chapters review physical mechanisms at the microstructural level, thermodynamics of irreversible processes, mechanics of continuous media, and the classification of the behavior of solids. The rest of the book is devoted to the modeling of different types of material behavior: linear, thermo and visco elasticity; plasticity, viscoplasticity, damage mechanics and crack growth. In each case the authors present characteristic data for numerous materials (metals, polymers, composites, concrete, wood), and discuss the physics underlying the phenomena together with methods for the numerical analysis of the resulting equations. The aim of this first chapter is to give nonspecialists in physics and metallurgy a general idea of the structure and mechanisms of deformations and fracture of the principal materials used in ordinary structures. ' ... An excellent book for those needing a comprehensive understanding of the mechanical and thermal behaviour of solids.' Choice