Magnetic materials are currently the focus of a great deal of research activity. Their properties pose great intellectual challenges to physicists and chemists, and the increase of activity in this field is likely to continue with the arrival of third generation facilities such as the European Synchotron Radiation Facility and Advanced Light Source. This is the first book devoted to the use of x-ray beam techniques to study magnetic properties of materials, serving as an ideal reference source. It covers both experimental and theoretical issues in topics such as dichroism, elastic scattering, and spectroscopy.