Brief, clear, and well written, this introductory treatment bridges the gap between traditional and modern algebra. A carefully devised progression from the concrete to the abstract demystifies the subject, offering worked examples and to-the-point explanations. The text is supplemented with exercises and complete solutions, and the only prerequisite is high school-level algebra. AUTHOR: Walter Warwick Sawyer (1911-2008) studied mathematics at St. John's College, Cambridge, and taught all over the world, starting at the universities of Dundee and Manchester and later at the University of Ghana and Canterbury College in New Zealand. He was Professor of Mathematics at Wesleyan University in Connecticut and on the faculty at the University of Toronto. His 11 books include the Dover publications Prelude to Mathematics, Mathematician's Delight, Vision in Elementary Mathematics, and A First Look at Numerical Functional Analysis.