In "Soil Classification: A Global Desk Reference", experienced soil scientists in the field discuss the present state of and future prospects for classification of soils on a global scale. A total of eighteen chapters looks at the question of how effective present systems of soil classification are at classifying the truly important properties of soils.Comparative studies of classification of soils generally do nothing more than merely attempt to correspond one system with another. There are some very critical points about how different systems differ in the importance of certain issues such as base saturation or presence of an argyllic horizon - which for soils of the humid tropics, Australia or Southern Africa is not valuable because of these soils' extraordinary age. There are also some very well-written suggestions about how to improve well-known soil classification systems, including some problems I could probably have discovered myself from what I know about USA Soil Taxonomy.However, "Soil Classification: A Global Desk Reference" goes far beyond such simple motives. The book does a great many other things. For instance it looks at many types of soils that have been well-known to rural people or ecologists for many years but have received virtually no attention from mainstream soil science. The most significant of these are the anthropogenic soils that are very common in areas with intensive rice cultivation. These are not only discussed as part of soil classification systems themselves, but there is even an actual analysis of the anthropogenic processes involved in making such soils. Then one comes to the unique and exceedingly ancient soils of Australia and Southern Africa that, as