Robust Arguments for Extreme value Models


                           Stuart Coles
             Department of Mathematics and Statistics
                   Lancaster University, U.K.
                 www.maths.lancs.ac.uk/~coless
                   e.mail s.coles@lancs.ac.uk


The classical theory of extremes is based on asymptotic arguments for
independent and identically distributed variables. This makes easy 
mathematics, but leads to models whose applicability for genuine processes
is questionable. In this talk we look at a number of arguments, some
old, some new, which establish the applicability of the standard asymptotic 
models under substantially weaker conditions.