Choice Review

This book is based on a conference held to discuss the proposed reintroduction of wolves into the Adirondacks of New York State. Twenty-three authors, including the editors, present an introduction and 20 very diverse chapters grouped into seven sections. Sections are preceded by brief overviews that help to tie the text into a single entity. Strangely, there is no map, and there are no photographs except on the cover. Three figures in one chapter show wolf-prey relationships; there are no others. Although the subtitle does not mention it, there is considerable emphasis on economics, some of which ecologists will abhor. The Adirondacks are the focus of the book, but the breadth of issues and understandings called forth make its utility much broader. It could form the basis for a very interesting and thought-provoking course in human societal and scientific interrelationships in nature conservation, with a biologist as instructor. General readers; upper-division undergraduate and graduate students; professionals. A. S. Mossman emeritus, Humboldt State University