The idea of writing this book came roughly at the time of publication of my graduate text Lectures on Modules and Rings, Springer GTM Vol. 189, 1999. Since that time, teaching obligations and intermittent intervention of other projects caused prolonged delays in the work on this volume. Only a lucky break in my schedule in 2006 enabled me to put the finishing touches on the completion of this long overdue book. This book is intended to serve a dual...