Book excerpt: The dominant trees of Australia, eucalypts make up a remarkable genus. This authoritative volume provides current reviews by active researchers of many disciplines, including evolutionary history, genetics, distribution and modelling, the relationship of eucalypts to fire and nutrients, ecophysiology, pollination and reproductive ecology, interactions between eucalypts and other co-existing biota (including fungi, invertebrates and vertebrates), and conservation and management. Together these reviews shed light on the reasons for the great success of eucalypts in Australian environments, and provide a comprehensive summary for comparison with the ecology of major woody plant genera in other continents. This volume is of particular relevance to Australian ecologists, but also provides a stimulating perspective to students of vegetation ecology in all continents.