After a mention of the structural, magnetic and electronic properties of high-temperature superconductors (HTSC), the basic principles of NMR-NQR experiments in these compounds are presented, emphasizing the marked differences and the novel aspects of the latter systems in comparison with metals and conventional superconductors. It follows a review of NMR-NQR spectra and relaxation rates in two-dimensional quantum antiferromagnets (particularly La 2 CuO 4 ) driven towards the superconducting state by charge doping. The main results obtained in the normal state of HTSC are summarized, while the problems of the spin-gap and of the superconducting fluctuations are discussed to a certain extent, by including the most recent contributions. An overview is given on the main conclusions derived from NMR-NQR experiments in the superconducting state. A section is devoted to the insights into the vortex lattice and the flux lines motion that have been obtained from NMR line narrowing, T 1 and echo dephasing. This review deals mostly with three systems, La 2−x Sr x CuO 4 , YBa 2 Cu 3 O 6+x and YBa 2 Cu 4 O 8 .