This impressive and wide-ranging work brings together 163 contributors on the topic of securing the in situ diversity of both wild relatives and landraces of the world's crop species. The book is organised into six sections giving an appropriate level of organisation. These sections cover in situ conservation of the wild relatives of crop plants, on-farm conservation of landraces, assessing threats and priorities, data management, policy issues and a collection of additional miscellaneous contributions. The 43 chapters range from the narrowly specific (Chapters 5 and 6, on conserving a wild Beta species, for example) to broad reviews (Chapter 1 on genetic reserve conservation and Chapter 15 on landraces). The book is unashamedly old world in its focus, arising largely from a European ECPGR network, an EU-funded project on crop wild relatives and landraces and a conference on the topic held on Madeira in September 2010. However, Chapter 37 attempts to widen the remit by reviewing crop wild diversity conservation around the world. The disjunction between ex situ and in situ activities is pointed out again, and a plea made for better integration. The four chapters on in situ data management reveal how far this aspect of in situ conservation needs to develop to be really effective, and the Swiss group presents one way of addressing this challenge for forages. The final chapter rounds off this essential reference for conservation professionals and policy makers by exploring the threats and opportunities facing the conservation of European crop wild relative and landrace diversity.