This monograph presents an introduction to that branch of abstract algebra having to do with the theory of rings, with some emphasis on the role of ideals in the theory. Except for a knowledge of certain fundamental theorems about determinants which is assumed in Chapter VIII, and at one point in Chapter VII, the book is almost entirely self-contained. Of course, the reader must have a certain amount of “mathematical maturity” in order to understand the illustrative examples and also to grasp the significance of the abstract approach. However, as far as formal technique is concerned, little more than the elements of algebra are presupposed.