Basaltic volcanism is an important process in shaping large areas of the Earth’s surface, not only in continental extensional environments and at the ocean floor. This special issue contains a collection of fifteen papers that are dedicated to recent researches on various aspects of continental basaltic magmatism from its mantle roots via the ascent paths of the melt to the surface where different styles of volcanism take place erupting lavas or through explosive volcanism depositing various types of pyroclasts. Two of the fifteen were published earlier (Downes et al. 2015; Herrero-Hernandez et al. 2015). Continental basaltic volcanism also contributes to the total terrestrial sedimentary budget not only by its primary pyroclastic deposits but also their reworked varieties. Most of the papers result from presentations at the BASALT 2013 conference, which took place from April 18–24, 2013, in Görlitz, Germany (Büchner et al. 2013). The conference was organized by the Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Görlitz and co-organized by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth´s Interior (IAVCEI)—particularly its Commission on Monogenetic Volcanism—and the “Sächsische Landesstiftung Natur und Umwelt” LaNU Academy). Since the conference was held in the heart of Europe in Germany with accompanied field excursions to Poland and the Czech Republic, many contributions are related to the Cenozoic Central European Volcanic Province (Fig. 1). However, there was also a variety of contributions about Mesozoic and Cenozoic basaltic rocks worldwide. This variety is reflected in this issue. The issue brings together studies on different aspects of basaltic magmatism. Thus, this volume contains petrological and geochemical studies spanning from studies of mantle peridotites to those on volcanic rocks as well as papers presenting geophysical data and interdisciplinary interpretation.