An international conference Groups St Andrews 1997 in Bath was held on the campus of the University of Bath during the period 26 July – 9 August 1997. Some 299 mathematicians from 41 countries were involved in the meeting, as well as 82 family members and partners. This was the fifth meeting of the four-yearly Groups St Andrews Conferences, and the series continues to flourish. The shape of the conference was similar to the previous conferences in that the first week was dominated by five series of talks, each surveying an area of rapid contemporary development in group theory. The main speakers were Laszlo Babai (Chicago), Martin Bridson (Oxford), Chris Brookes (Cambridge), Cheryl Praeger (Western Australia) and Aner Shalev (Jerusalem). The second week featured two special days, a Burnside Day and a Lyndon Day. Our thanks are due to Efim Zelmanov (Yale) and Chuck Miller III (Melbourne), respectively, for helping organise the programmes for these days. In addition the week contained a wide variety of research talks. In the evenings throughout the conference, and during the rest periods, there was an extensive social programme, only some of which was disrupted by rain. There was also much extemporised music-making in the Senior Common Room in the evenings.

These Proceedings contain the written evidence of the academic achievements of the conference. The five main speakers have all provided substantial survey articles, giving a wide perspective on their fields.