The Editor has sought chapters for this excellent book from leaders in their respective fields, and he brings together functionality of flagella and pili, as well as their evolution and in the case of flagella, their application as heterologous expression systems. I cannot think of another book that is such a 'one-stop shop' for such topics gathered together. In these days of 454 sequencing, scientists want to understand motility-system genes which they may discover in their bacterial genome, beyond the detail to be found with KEGG; this book is an ideal source for such enquiries. It contains admirable crystal structure details for assembly and biogenesis of pili and flagella, and helpful explanations of the links between flagellar motor protein sequences, structure and function in motility. A slight weakness is that colour plates are included at the back of the book rather than within, and that 3D model videos are not supplied with the text. However the authors write with enthusiasm and authority, sharing current understanding of the roles and structures of bacterial appendages - a great purchase for an institutional library or large bacterial research lab.