Nobel Prize winner the late William Vickrey was one of the truly important figures in contemporary economics. Over the past fifty-five years he has published several books and some 140 papers scattered over many journals. This book offers a thoughtful selection from these papers, organised so as to bring out the scope and yet the unity of the work. Vickrey has the unique distinction of having contributed, often seminally and always operationally, to all major branches of public economics. The papers collected here cover social choice and allocation mechanisms, taxation, pricing in public utilities and in urban transportation, urban economics, and macroeconomic policies. Each topic is introduced by one of the four editors, and the book is completed with a full annotated bibliography of Vickrey's work. For the first time, we have convenient access to a set of important, creative and stimulating contributions, which have helped shape the modern field of public economics. This is a fascinating overview of the field and of the life-time work of a great economist.