Abstract Unlike the ability to speak, which has presumably evolved over hundreds of thousands of years, the ability to read is a relatively recent development that is dependent upon both the capacity to process complex visual stimuli and the ability to engage phonologic, syntactic, and other language capacities. Perhaps as a consequence of the wide range of cognitive operations required, reading is compromised in many patients with cerebral lesions, particularly those involving the left hemisphere. The resultant reading impairments, or acquired dyslexias, take many different forms, reflecting the breakdown of specific aspects of the reading process. In this chapter, we briefly review the history of the study of acquired dyslexia and discuss a model of the processes involved in normal reading. Specific syndromes of acquired dyxlexia are discussed. We also briefly discuss connectionist accounts of reading and the anatomic basis of reading as revealed by re- cent functional imaging studies. Lastly, the clinical assessment of reading and attempts at reading remediation are briefly described.