This is the second volume of a two-volume set that provides a modern account of basic Banach algebra theory including all known results on general Banach *-algebras. The author emphasizes the roles of *-algebra structure and explores the algebraic results which underlie the theory of Banach algebras and *-algebras. Proofs are presented in complete detail at a level accessible to graduate students. The books will become the standard reference for the general theory of *-algebras. This second volume deals with *-algebras. Chapter 9 develops the theory of *-algebras without additional restrictions. Chapter 10 proves nearly all the results previously known for Banach *-algebras and hermitian Banach *-algebras for *-algebras with various essentially algebraic restrictions. Chapter 11 restates the previous results in terms of Banach *-algebras and uses them to prove results explicitly involving the complete norm. Chapter 12 is devoted to locally compact groups and the *-algebras related to them.

This is the second volume of a two-volume set that provides a modern account of basic Banach algebra theory including all known results on general Banach *-algebras. The author emphasizes the roles of *-algebra structure and explores the algebraic results which underlie the theory of Banach algebras and *-algebras. Proofs are presented in complete detail at a level accessible to graduate students. The books will become the standard reference for the general theory of *-algebras. This second volume deals with *-algebras. Chapter 9 develops the theory of *-algebras without additional restrictions. Chapter 10 proves nearly all the results previously known for Banach *-algebras and hermitian Banach *-algebras for *-algebras with various essentially algebraic restrictions. Chapter 11 restates the previous results in terms of Banach *-algebras and uses them to prove results explicitly involving the complete norm. Chapter 12 is devoted to locally compact groups and the *-algebras related to them.