Supergravity vacua and solitons

This is the written version of two lectures given at the Newton Institute Euroconference on Duality and Supersymmetric Theories, Cambridge, England, 7-18 Apr 1997. It deals with the nature of supergravity vacua and black holes and black branes as solitons, focussing on my own work. While clearly dated, I believe that it contains material which remains of relevance and which is not available elsewhere