This book offers a foundational review for both academics and professionals, and is written to be accessible to all who are interested or involved in building communities where the suffering of the poor, the disadvantaged, the oppressed and even those in situations of conflict and war are addressed. The book is written in three parts: (1) Understanding community development, thus what we try to achieve when following the path of community development? (2) Doing community development by following the process of community development and the development of leadership to guide a community towards a new developmental path, and (3) Working through case studies to interpret cases of practical community development. The book's focus is on how communities can achieve human autonomy - the capacity of communities to intervene, to create a better world to live in, to change things for the better and to find a place in the larger world.