Mammals of Africa: Volumes I-VI Hardcover – February 28, 2013

I spent 5 months on Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea and then 6 weeks in Ethiopia. I had several small mammals and bats that went unIDed. I was able to ID several of them easily the day I received these books.

Where does one begin to review a work like this ? Anyone who thinks the textbook is dead and the eBook reigns will have to think again.This massive 6-volume set comprises the most up-to-date information presented in printed form on the huge range of mammals in Africa. Book collectors like me will need to reinforce the library shelves. The volumes themselves are large: volumes I to VI weigh 1.55kgs, 2.3kgs, 3.05kgs, 3.15kgs, 2.3kgs and 2.75kgs respectively. Many modern textbooks are produced with a laminate cover, and I am relieved to see the publishers avoided this trap.There is a template design for the dust jackets where the pictorial silhouettes of animals appear to be printed onto a linen cloth. The animals and background colour of the template are different for each volume. Each volume has a coloured stripe on the topmost corner of the page so you can tell which volume you are holding without referring to the front cover. They are perfect-bound with excellent spines and white endpapers. Bloomsbury has put a lot of thought into the design - well done.I am glad to see that the list of donors and patrons includes Richard Dawkins - without whom many people in the world might not realise that evolution is THE fundamental force governing the breakup of group populations and the genesis of individual species. The editors are introduced to reader by way of casual colour photograph (nice touch) rather than a formal protrait so often seen in multi-author books. Jonathan Kingdon now looks like a cross between Moses and Charles Darwin, as he did at Makerere University in Uganda where I met him in the 1970's.The book presents comprehensive information on each mammal known to science. For each species there is descriptive text (and where possible) coupled with at least one drawing or colour plate so typical of Kingdon's earlier works. Crucially, a distribution map is provided, this time large enough to actually read without difficulty (well done Bloomsbury). This includes some species only recently discovered, such as the Makande Squirrel Galago first described in 1993 (volume II page 421) and some for which information and specimens are so scarse that barely nothing is known of them ( eg. MacArthurs' Shrew, volume IV page 101). Volume I is the crucial element for serious biologists in that the geography, history, biotopes and evolutionary forces that have forged the uniqueness of Africa all help to understand how mammals exist in their habitats today, and why.That the information is absolutely state-of-the-art is illustrated in the section on elephants, where two separate species are described (as opposed to one species with two races), and where elephant numbers are quoted for each country. The bibliography for each volume, especially volume II on the primates, is colossal. There is a glossary of terms at the end of each volume, which I found essential particularly for volume III on rodents and allies, a group I am not familiar with at close quarters. Volume IV on hedgehogs, shrews and bats successfully tackles an enormous amount of information, though as a wildlife and zoo animal vet I was relieved to move onto volume V to read about carnivores, pangolins and perissodactyls. My personal favourite is volume VI, where the artiodactyls are presented.My only critical comment would be that the work is listed on Amazon as a box-set, though when I received it there was no box or slip case for these volumes. It would have been useful.This seminal work will remain the most sought-after single comprehensive source of information on African mammals for decades to come. Bloomsbury has graduated to the aristocracy of the publishing world. All the authors and editors are to be congratulated. Above all, Jonathan Kingdon has firmly established his credentials as an artist-naturalist in the mould of Audobon and Gould (though this time equipped with a zoology degree)and his books are collectors items. Following on from his previous works on East African Mammals and the Mammals of Arabia, this massive set of volumes should qualify him for a Knighthood for his unique and almost single-handed rejuvenation of the biology textbook and his approach to publishing the science of the natural world.Chris Furley, BVM&S, MRCVS, FZS, RAS.

Yes its expensive.But if you have a deep interest in African, or indeed any mammals then its worth every penny/cent.It's very different from the old Kingdon's Mammals of East Africa but still has Jonathan's drawings which are in many cases updated and expanded.For me its a professional tool. But its also a work of art and an amazing academic achievement.I thought long and hard before making myself afford it (ok not that long and hard - I had to have it).With digital editions of books now taking over, this will stand the test of time and be a very valuable resource and example of what great nature/science books are all about.

superb s et of books its so up to date its impossible not to learn something new pity its so expensive

I have complete admiration for this tremendous reference work co-ordinated by the Happolds, Kingdon, and five other excellent editors, for its usefulness and attractiveness. Specially I want to commend the very,very good drawings of small mammal skulls by Meredith Happold. Minor criticisms are the omission of mandible drawings for bats, and skull illustrations of many species of Crocidura shrews, although that is coped with better for a few other extra-large genera such as Myotis and Pipistrellus bats. Also I don't think that Tadarida tomensis needed to have been omitted. For larger species, most of the drawings, colored or black-toned by Jonathan Kingdon are both scientifically right and artistically spirited.. I love his life sketches specially. Without being the work of "species lumpers" the individual accounts here seem to have the right balance of often conflicting opinions in many debatable genera. (Compare with species treatment in another recent set of volumes on all mammals of the world)