Chiral symmetry and the properties of hadrons in the Generalised Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model

Various aspects of the Generalised Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model for QCD in four dimensions are reviewed. The properties of mesonic excitations are discussed in detail, with special attention paid to the chiral pion. The spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking in the vacuum and the effective chiral symmetry restoration in the spectrum of highly excited mesons and baryons are described microscopically.