This book grew out of lectures on Riemann surfaces given by Otto Forster at the universities of Munich, Regensburg, and Munster. It provides a concise modern introduction to this rewarding subject, as well as presenting methods used in the study of complex manifolds in the special case of complex dimension one. From the reviews: "This book deserves very serious consideration as a text for anyone contemplating giving a course on Riemann surfaces."--MATHEMATICAL REVIEWS