Fortunately, demand for David Johnson's Geology of Australia must have been sufficient for Cambridge University Press to publish this second edition just five years after the first edition appeared. This well illustrated introduction to the geology of one of the great Gondwanan continents is particularly useful for students in that it not only deals with the geological development of the continent but also discusses the basic principles and processes of geology from a southern hemisphere perspective.

Following that ‘geology primer’, Johnson follows a chronological account from the Precambrian through to Cenozoic and modern times. Then there are substantial chapters on specific topics from an Australasian perspective, such as the evolution of life, building the continental shelf and Great Barrier Reef to climate change. Each chapter ends with a short list of appropriate websites, as is expected these days.

For a single author to cover such a huge range of information is a considerable undertaking. Johnson has taken the opportunity of this new edition to update information and improve the balance of topics by upgrading the sections on palaeontology and climate change.

The abundant illustrations are invariably of high quality and range from colour photos of sites, rocks and fossils to maps, cross-sections and diagrams plus plenty of other black and white illustrations from numerous sources, all carefully listed at the back, along with a very full and useful bibliography and index. The production quality is high and although already 348 pages long, the book is not unwieldy and could reasonably be expanded somewhat in future editions. For students and other geologists who are not familiar with the geology of Australia this is an ideal starting place.