The spread of almost simple classical groups This monograph studies generating sets of almost simple classical groups by bounding the spread of these groups. Guralnick and Kantor resolved a 1962 question of Steinberg by proving that in a finite simple group every nontrivial element belongs to a generating pair. Groups with this property are said to be 3 2 generated. Breuer Guralnick and Kantor conjectured that a finite group is 3 2 generated if and only if every proper quotient is cyclic. We prove a strong version of this conjecture for almost simple classical groups by bounding the spread of these groups. This involves analysing the automorphisms fixed point ratios and subgroup structure of almost simple classical groups so the first half of this monograph is dedicated to these general topics. In particular we give a general exposition of Shintani descent. This monograph will interest researchers in group generation but the opening chapters also serve as a general introduction to the almost simple classical groups. .