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When we speak of hard metals today we tend to think exclusively of the sintered products of one or more carbides with an addition of cobalt, although in fact this classification includes all alloys based on carbides of metals manufactured either by sintering the carbides in the form of powder, or by melting, which possess the characteristic properties of wear resistance and hardness at high temperatures. The development and scope of the hard‐metal technique has been discussed in a book entitled Handbuch der Hartmetalle, the first volume of which was recently published in Germany. After the war a photostat copy was obtained of the manuscript of Dr. Dawihl's book, and preparations were put in hand by three companies, Hard Metal Tools Ltd., Metropolitan‐Vickers Electrical Co. Ltd. and Murex Ltd., for a translation of this work. They found that by removing or condensing information that is well known or had previously been published in English it was possible to reduce the size of the book and economise on production costs, without detracting from its value. In the English version, therefore, although new facts and theories stand as a full translation of the original, the remainder is considerably condensed and has been printed in italics. The first part of the book (Chapters 1–10) deals fully with the scientific principles of the sintering technique necessary for the understanding of the production of hard metal. The second part (Chapters 11–14), which is unfortunately incomplete, describes the technical production of hard metals. The third part discussing the manufacture and application of tools is entirely missing, but it is expected that these chapters will be published by Springer‐Verlag of Berlin.