This is a comprehensive book in four parts, one for each of the crops in its title and each subdivided into the following sections: Origin and History, Taxonomy and Botany, Breeding and Genetics, Developmental Physiology, Agronomy, Pests and Diseases, and Postharvest Quality and Marketing. It gives information from the preparation of cuttings to the management of all phases of the plants' growth; and it covers usage both by smallholders in developing countries and for markets with precise quality specifications for processing. Such information on industrial starch is topical for producing biofuel.

The book also describes how modern biochemical methods have clarified taxonomic questions on the origin, domestication and classification of the species involved, though molecular and morphological evidence does not always agree, usually because domestication and diversification have occurred over long periods and are on-going. Such methods are stretched for the aroids, for which there are two gene pools giving the five types described, namely taro, giant taro, swamp taro, cocoyam and elephant foot taro. For practical breeding the author describes successes with biochemical markers and marker-assisted selection and also transgenic insertions, mostly mediated by Agrobacterium but some also by particle bombardment.

The book is particularly comprehensive on pests and diseases, focused on recent non-African research. As cassava virus diseases have dominated African literature since the 1880s it is disappointing that pioneer publications from the 1930s to the 1950s are not mentioned.

This book is a most valuable reference for all aspects of the four root crops, especially for its insight into the future when production is certain to increase greatly.