Having cofounded--with Horadam--the theory of co-cyclic designs during the early 1990s, De Launey (1958-2010) worked for many years on his theory of algebraic design, which he lived to finish but not see published. Flannery (mathematics, National U. of Ireland-Galway,) worked with him and prepared the manuscript for publication. To inspire researchers at all levels to investigate algebraic questions posed by design theory, they provide a large selection of the algebraic objects and applications to be found in design theory. The book is technical and quite abstract, taking a non-standard approach and highlighting principal themes in such as way that they can be studied for their own sake. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)