What is the Universe made of? How old is it? How does a supernova explode? Can we detect black holes? And where do cosmic rays originate? This volume provides a comprehensive and pedagogical introduction to modern ideas and challenging problems in nuclear and particle astrophysics. Based on a graduate school, specially written articles by eight leading experts cover a wealth of exciting topics, including the search for black holes, nucleosynthesis and neutrino transport in supernovae, the physics of neutron stars, massive neutrinos, cosmic ray physics and astrophysics, and physical cosmology. Together, they present the Universe as a laboratory for testing cutting-edge physics and bridge the gap between conference proceedings and specialised monographs. This volume provides an invaluable resource for graduate students and active researchers in nuclear and particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology.