Includes bibliographical references and index.

Geometric structures; discontinuous groups of homeomorphisms; basics of hyperbolic manifolds; geometrical finiteness; Kleinian manifolds; uniformization; theory of deformations.

This book presents a systematic account of conformal geometry of n-manifolds, as well as its Riemannian counterparts. A unifying theme is their discrete holonomy groups. In particular, hyperbolic manifolds, in dimension 3 and higher, are addressed. The treatment covers also relevant topology, algebra (including combinatorial group theory and varieties of group representations), arithmetic issues, and dynamics. Progress in these areas has been very fast sicne the 1980s, especially due to the Thurston geometrization program, leading to the solution of many difficult problems. A strong effort has been made to point out new connections and perspectives in the field and to illustrate various aspects of the theory. An intuitive approach which emphasizes the ideas behind the constructions is complemented by a large number of examples and figures which both use and support the reader's geometric imagination.