The Saccharinae, according to the first chapter of this book, is a sub-tribe of grasses resulting from a proposed merger of the recognised sub-tribes Saccharinae (sugarcane and relatives) and Sorghinae (sorghum and relatives). This taxon redefinition provides a handy title for a book that includes sorghum, sugarcane and Miscanthus. There is some logic in studying these three crops together: all are economically important tropical grasses with C4 photosynthesis with common recent ancestry in evolution. The resulting strong parallels in genome structure can be used to advantage in research: a common theme in many chapters. In particular, it is argued that the genome sequence of sorghum will provide a valuable resource for the other more complex genomes of sugarcane and Miscanthus.

Despite 19 genera proposed in the sub-tribe Saccharinae, the book deals largely with only three: sorghum (10 chapters), sugarcane (two chapters), Miscanthus (two chapters) or some combination of these.

There is some insightful review of the current state of knowledge and research on genome analysis of these crops, and sorghum particularly. Other chapters on approaches to genetically manipulate these crops, such as genetic engineering, also provide handy overviews of these topics.

However, some important topics relating to the title seem lacking. For example, genetic and QTL mapping in sugarcane was not dealt with significantly. Also, details of steps to translate new knowledge from genome analysis to practical genetic improvement programs was arguably lacking, given such application was emphasised.

Overall, this book provides some good in-depth reviews and commentary for these interested in genome analysis of sorghum and some good overviews of activity in certain molecular genetics research fields in sorghum, sugarcane and Miscanthus. However, it misses some key areas and is not a comprehensive treatise of the title topic.