This concise, authoritative, and up-to-date overview begins with a chapter in which modern terminology, definitions, and concepts of mechanisms and reactivity are introduced. The following chapters provide accounts of the mechanisms of four of the main classes of reactions of aliphatic compounds. Rather than simply presenting the mechanisms to the reader, these chapters begin with experimental evidence and then demonstrate how this leads to the mechanistic deductions. Problems at the end of each chapter and a short bibliography further enhance this volume.