The editor's ambitious objective is a comprehensive reference book on the selected genera, showing the potential contribution of wild relatives to the improvement of the crops themselves. Thirteen genera are included in this book of a 10-volume series: Antirrhinum, Camellia, Coffea (including Psilanthus), Cola, Digitalis, Elaeis, Euphorbia, Gladiolus, Lilium, Nicotiana, Petunia, Rosa and Theobroma. The chapters are variable in length and coverage. The reasons for this include the varying economic importance of the crops, and so the research that has been done, for example Cola has received little attention compared to say Coffea or Elaeis, some crops being more amenable than others to inter-specific approaches. Thus, inter-specific hybridisation has as yet to contribute to the genetic improvement of Theobroma cacao, and perhaps most importantly, the 64 authors have different interests. There are up to nine main paragraphs on each genus, with most genera including descriptions of basic botany, genetic and genomic resources, conservation of genetic resources, the role of genetic resources in classical breeding and application of molecular methods, ‘dark sides’ (plants becoming invasive) and recommendations for future actions. Camellia is limited to introduction, botany, in vitro culture, employment of markers, genomic resources and future thrusts. The better chapters adequately discuss the available knowledge, but some are written from a narrower perspective than the editor's objective requirements. Overall, the book would have benefitted from editing for content of individual chapters and in some cases copy editing.