  Dusty galaxies with luminosities in excess of 10^11 solar luminosities have
been detected out to redshifts of about unity by the Infrared Space Observatory
(ISO), and to higher redshifts using millimetre(mm)- and submm-wave cameras on
ground-based telescopes. The integrated properties of these more distant
galaxies are also constrained by measurements of the intensity of the
submm-wave background radiation. While it is generally unclear whether their
energy is released by gravitational accretion or by star formation,
circumstantial evidence favours star formation. Unless these high-redshift
galaxies are extremely massive, which is not expected from standard models of
galaxy evolution, this luminosity cannot be sustained for more than a fraction
of a Hubble time, and so they are undergoing some sort of `bursting' behaviour.
The interpretation and analysis of this population is discussed, and the key
observations for deriving a robust history of their evolution, which is likely
to be the history of starburst activity, are highlighted.
