This book's aim is to present a comprehensive (‘holistic’ is the word used) and worldwide treatment of shifting cultivation and its biological, soil fertility and land use aspects, as well as the prospects for improvement and intensification. Many of today's land use systems, especially in Africa, are directly derived from shifting cultivation and on a longer timescale it may be seen as the mother of all agriculture. It is therefore an important topic and the book brings together a wealth of information from all corners and several disciplines. This is also its limitation. It is impossible to treat so large a subject in all its aspects in 200 pages and cover all aspects adequately. Just a few examples where the treatment falls short: the chapter on climate fails to distinguish between unimodal and bimodal rainfall regimes, which is very important in West Africa and determines the geographical limits of the cocoa and oil palm belts and the forest fringe. Some conceptual models for vegetational and soil processes and their interaction are discussed, but the author bypasses the attempts in the last few decades to adequately quantify such processes, which can help to predict the long-term effect of soil mining and land use intensification under the fragile conditions of the (humid) tropics. Although important literature sources are missed, the book presents a useful encyclopaedic overview of shifting cultivation in three continents, including current concerns about land grabbing and the dangers of injudicious large-scale land use. The book is recommended as an introductory college text.