Each chapter in the main part of this book covers an area of plant virology, introducing the key concepts and important terminology. The whole subject is comprehensively covered, without the overwhelming detail to be found in a full-scale textbook. The appendices, which contain brief descriptions of plant virus genera, are less well done, and there are better reference sources for this material. The bibliographies that accompany the chapters provide a useful entry to the literature, but those in the appendices contain some very strange choices. However, the book provides a good starting point for newcomers to the subject, such as postgraduate students or scientists from other disciplines who want to use plant viruses as research tools. Care is needed, because there are mistakes and occasional contradictions between chapters, but buying this reasonably priced book would not be a bad way to start on plant virology.