I wish that every book that covers the emergence of a new field could start with such a wonderful opening chapter as that written by John Pringle covering the anthropology and history of septins. With an understanding of the events and players in the field in place, this book then, in 15 chapters, spans the emergent horizons of septin biology from its origins in yeast research to the current field that encompasses invertebrate model animals to mammals, including human physiology and disease. The authors represent most of the key figures and the work and the book as a whole is an essential reference for the newcomer or specialist in this area and for any student of eukaryotic cell structure and function. This is an important and wonderful reference. My only criticism is for the publishers. The size and quality of reproduction of some of the figures, and the decision to displace all the colour images as a group of plates in the centre of the book is less than this text deserves.