Microstructural evolution and its effect on hardness were investigated during homogerization, hot rolling and static annealing of the Al-Cu alloys containing 6, 11, 17, 25 and 30 wt.% Cu. The hardness of the constituent Al and θ phases of the alloys decreases with increasing amount of hot working and static annealing in the beginning. The variation in hardness during rolling is explained by dynamic recrystallization while that during annealing is explained by grain growth. The grain growth obeys a kinetic law of the type d ∝ tn with n = 0.05 to 0.17, where d is the grain size at time t.