Recent observational and theoretical investigations of AGN are reviewed. The basic AGN characteristics (broad emission lines of abundant ions, X-ray emission, and a sharp starlike appearance) are summarized, and particular attention is given to the spectral classification of Seyfert galaxies, the AGN velocity fields and their measurement, low-ionization narrow-emission-line regions (LINERs), observations supporting a torus model of Seyfert AGN, extended gas and ionization, and the black-hole/accretion-disk model of the AGN energy source. It is suggested that no one model can explain the physical processes in all types of AGN. 43 refs.