A study of graphite and its precursors. This is the first volume in the "World of Carbon" series. The contributors include H.P. Boehm, S. Bonnamy, T.D. Burchell, G. Dresselhaus, S. Flandrois, Y. Hishiyama, S.-H. Hong, J.-P. Issi, B. Rand, I. Mochida and A. Oberlin.