Abstract
The high-energy sources known as anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) and soft γ-ray repeaters (SGRs) are well explained as magnetars: isolated neutron stars powered by their own magnetic energy. After explaining why it is generally believed that the traditional energy sources at work in other neutron stars (accretion, rotation, residual heat) cannot power the emission of AXPs/SGRs, I review the observational properties of the 20 AXPs/SGRs currently known and describe the main features of the magnetar model. In the last part of this review, I discuss the recent discovery of magnetars with low external dipole field and some of the relations between AXPs/SGRs and other classes of isolated neutron stars.
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