From the reviews: "The monograph concentrates on nonequilibrium phase transitions from fluctuating (ordered) states into so-called absorbing states, which can never be left by the system once reached. ... Extended appendices (plus solutions of excercises and answers to problems) on specific models ... make the book useful not only to scientists and lecturers, but also to advanced graduate students." (Piotr Garbaczewski, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1165, 2009) "This research monograph ... provides a highly desirable and topical pedagogical introduction as well as a timely overview of recent advances in theoretical investigations of continuous non-equilibrium phase transition from active states to inactive absorbing states. ... This text is likely to become a standard reference in the field, and should be an indispensable source of information for both beginning and already seasoned researchers interested in non-equilibrium statistical physics, the theory of stochastic processes, and fundamental properties of reaction-diffusion systems ... ." (Uwe C. Tauber, Mathematical Reviews, Issue 2012 h)