Carbohydrates are the most abundant natural products, in line with their role as energy stores and structural building blocks in plants and algae. They are versatile enough to serve as encoders of biological information and, last but not least, they are involved in a variety of molecular recognition processes. Research into carbohydrate and glycoconjugate functions in cell-to-cell communication processes has even created a new and rapidly developing field of study: glycobiology. Thisbe Lindhorst"s successful book is now available in its second edition. Going from the basic concepts right up to the most recent results, this didactically written book features numerous practical examples of synthetic and analytical methods. The contents have been thoroughly updated, and a new chapter on mass spectroscopy of carbohydrates has been added. With its clear and lucid style, this introduction to carbohydrate chemistry and biochemistry is essential reading for students and postgraduate scientists in chemistry, biochemistry, pharmacy and biomedicine. "a very readable book which presents carbohydrate chemistry and, in later sections, biochemistry as exciting areas to work and study. The author captures a sense of wonder and inspiration from the very elegance of these areas of science and their application in the real worlds of pharmaceutical and medical research." (The Alchemist)