Contents
Preface;
1. Overview and overture;
2. Relativistic strings;
3. A closer look at the world-sheet;
4. Strings on circles and T-duality;
5. Background fields and world-volume actions;
6. D-branes tension and boundary states;
7. Supersymmetric strings;
8. Supersymmetric strings and T-duality;
9. World-volume curvature couplings;
10. The geometry of D-branes;
11. Multiple D-branes and bound states;
12. Strong coupling and string duality;
13. D-branes and geometry I;
14. K3 orientifolds and compactification;
15. D-branes and geometry II;
16. Towards M- and F-theory;
17. D-branes and black holes;
18. D-branes, gravity and gauge theory;
19. The holographic renormalisation group;
20. Taking stock.
