Seventy years ago C. R. van der Merwe's masterly Soil Groups and Sub-groups of South Africa was published. Its preface stated that it was based on meagre information, but ‘. . . as more detailed and more reliable information become available, the map and list will be reviewed and amended’. That hope has now been realized. Martin Fey with help from several colleagues has provided us with an equally masterly book packed with information. It contains succinct accounts of all 14 main groups of soil in the country. For each group there are summaries of the morphology and chemical and physical properties, a map of its distribution, a discussion of its genesis, and appraisals of its quality for use and its ecological significance. There are also descriptions of actual profiles with supporting analytical data, and an appendix on the methods used to obtain them. Inevitably there is jargon, but a glossary explains. Several pedological features specific to South Africa are described in coloured panels, and a whole chapter is devoted to animals and their function in making the soil what it is. The book is richly illustrated with numerous colour photographs of soil profiles and the landscapes in which they occur, pedogenic features such as concretions and stone lines, subterranean fungus gardens and spectacular termite mounds. Some of the photographs are too small, and some are lurid. This is a small criticism of a book that will appeal to students and professional scientists alike, one that is destined to be the definitive text on South African soils for many years to come.