[en] A tutorial account is given of the key physics issues in the confinement of high temperature plasma in magnetic mirror systems. The role of adiabatic invariants and particle drifts and their relationship to equilibrium and stability are discussed, in the context of the various forms of mirror field geometry. Collisional effects and the development and the control of ambipolar potentials are reviewed. The topic of microinstabilities is discussed together with the means for their control. The properties and advantages for fusion power purposes of various special embodiments of the mirror idea, including tandem mirrors, are discussed