In the past, most of the literature on the compressive behavior of composites focused on composite response at the material level. In contrast, these have been few papers on the performance of composite structures subjected to compressive loads. STP 1185 provides this information by emphasizing composite structural response. 20 peer-reviewed papers cover: compression analysis • structural applications and performance • effects of constituents and mircomechanics • compression fatigue and lifetime assessment of properties • and compression test methods.