  In certain 1+1 dimensional field theoretic toy models, one can go all the way
from microscopic quarks via the hadron spectrum to the properties of hot and
dense baryonic matter in an essentially analytic way. This "miracle" is
illustrated through case studies of two popular large N models, the Gross-Neveu
and the 't Hooft model - caricatures of the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model and real
QCD, respectively. The main emphasis will be on aspects related to spontaneous
symmetry breaking (discrete or continuous chiral symmetry, translational
invariance) and confinement.
