A Global Atlas of Atolls (Hardcover)

Both authors are ideally suited to prepare this book, offering a nice mix of biological and geological expertise on coral reef systems. There is a glaring gap in the market for this book - there is no literature or database that comprehensively summarises the latest remote sensing imagery for global atolls. There is no comparable book. The treatment employs state-of-the-art satellite imagery and updates the existing Atlas of Coral Reefs by Spalding et al which came out more than 20 years ago. Atolls are a favorite topic of research in the biological/ecological and geological sciences due to their unusual ring-like reef form and their laboratory-like, isolated settings. The great strength and contribution of this book is the comprehensive analysis and summary of all these different atolls and their main characteristics in one place. The writing is excellent, striking a nice balance between providing enough detail while also being accessible to a general reader. A useful resource for a range of higher education courses, undergraduate and masters level courses i.e., coastal processes and environments, coral reefs and climate change, oceans coasts and climate. One reviewer says: "This is a superb volume, which I suspect will be much referred to. The authors a pre-eminent in this, and it will be authoritative as well as useful to a wide range of people."