Providing a unified exposition of the theory of symmetric designs with emphasis on recent developments, this volume covers the combinatorial aspects of the theory, giving particular attention to the construction of symmetric designs and related objects. The last five chapters are devoted to balanced generalized weighing matrices, decomposable symmetric designs, subdesigns of symmetric designs, non-embeddable quasi-residual designs, and Ryser designs. The book concludes with a comprehensive bibliography of over 400 entries. Detailed proofs and a large number of exercises make it suitable as a text for an advanced course in combinatorial designs.