From the reviews: "This book is the first in a row of four announced volumes. It covers the period 1954-1966 during which Goro Shimura produced more than thirty publications. ... Important contributions concerning the zeta function of an algebraic variety and automorphic functions are featured. ... the mimeographed 1964 lecture notes by Shimura appear in a final form. They are completed by fascinating historical notes and comments made by the author ... ." (Jean-Paul Pier, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1008, 2003)