  We review the theory of FEL oscillators operating with tapered undulators. We
consider the case of a uniform tapering and introduce a parameter which
characterizes the effect of the tapering on the gain and on the saturation
intensity. We analyze the effect of the tapering on the FEL dynamics by
including the pulse propagation effects too. We analyze the importance of
tapering as a tool to model the optical pulse shapes and to control the higher
harmonic intensities.
