"Starting with a detailed discussion of our nearest star, the Sun, this book describes how solar physicists have come to understand its internal workings. It then considers how astronomers go about studying the basic physical properties of more distant stars. This sets the scene for a description of the life-cycles of stars, starting from their formation in the interstellar medium, through their main sequence lifetimes, to the end points of stellar evolution. The book culminates with a discussion of the formation of exotic objects such as neutron stars and black holes." Compiled by a team of experts, this textbook has been designed for elementary university courses in astronomy and astrophysics, and is written in an accessible style that avoids complex mathematics. It is therefore suitable for self-study and will appeal to amateur astronomers as well as undergraduate students.