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As is well known many engineering structures and components containcracks or crack-like flaws. It is widely recognised that crack growth must be consideredboth in design and in the analysis of failures. The complete solution of a crack growthproblem includes determination of the crack path. Macroscopic aspects of crack pathshave been of industrial interest for a very long time. At the present state of the art thefactors controlling the path taken by a crack are not completely understood. Thepurpose of this introductory paper is to set the scene for the more detailed papers whichfollow. Eight brief case studies are presented. These are taken from the author’sprofessional and personal experience of macroscopic crack paths over the past 50years. They have been chosen to illustrate some of the more important aspects of crackpaths. Many more examples are included in the invited and contributed paperspresented during the Conference.INTRODUCTION