Review: One of the most important elements in any environmental study is the creation of a baseline. The idea here is that once you know what conditions are (i.e. the "natural") any variation from that can be attributed to some cause. The obvious issue here is anthropogenic change. How can we study current effects and, as importantly, know how conditions have changed over many years? Here, the need for the book becomes obvious. Palaeolimnology - the study of ancient lakes and inland water systems - seeks to use the study of sediments etc. to draw conclusions about the past to help explain changes in the present

Although this might seem a simple aim based on the old geological maxim 'the present is the key to the past' there is a great deal to bear in mind. This text seeks to clarify procedures and analyses. The text can be seen as dividing into three sections. The first is an introduction - an overview of the key elements behind palaeolimnology. An initial overview of the physical environment covered by limnology is followed by one looking at the parameters of the discipline and a final one outlining the sources of sediment - the key resource in this text. The aim of these chapters is to provide a context and some idea of the situations palaeolimnologists face. The second part deals with some of the technical issues that need to be considered, starting with chapter four's description of dating methods .Before any use of sediment as an indicator of events it is necessary to establish some boundaries for dating. Chapter five continues the theme by outlining some of the ways in which we can retrieve information form sediments. This would be easy if all species followed the same "rules" but this is far from the case. Part three, the major portion of the book, is given over to a range of case studies where palaeolimnology has been shown to have provided vital insights to the study. The first is acidification where the complexity of the chemical environment creates problems in data analysis. Next we have a study of the impact of metals in the environment. Referred to early on as the 'silent epidemic' data are given to show just how widespread and pernicious the effects of metal toxicity can be. Chapter 9 looks at evidence surrounding the impact of organics like PCB and DDT before returning to the metal theme. Another metal but one with a great impact is mercury, the subject of chapter 10. It's effects in Minamata Bay are well known but cases here show it can have an influence even in Norway where such pollution might be thought of as limited. As one of the quotes in the book says, anything can be a pollutant: the idea of nutrients being dangerous is well known as chapter 11s extended analysis of eutrophication demonstrates. There is a shift of example from this point. The cases mentioned can all be considered as pollutants but other 'natural' processes can also have a human component whose impact can be measured. Thus chapter 12 looks at the effects of erosion from a range of cases including land clearance and dams. Given that it is estimated that people are now a global-scale force on the natural world such a chapter is timely. More human impact is seen in chapter 13 but this time it's invasive species where palaeolimnology studies impacts over a range of timescales not possible with usual ecological fieldwork. Two of the more pressing current issues, global warming and ozone depletion, are discussed next. Finally, there are two concluding chapters. The penultimate draws together strands from the text to highlight the advantages and issues facing palaeolimnology whilst the last, very brief chapter suggests how we can use this work in the future.

This is a useful text. It provides a good level of detail so that the beginner in this area can appreciate what palaeolimnology can (and cannot) achieve. It goes beyond the simple introduction to provide a detailed understanding of how techniques can be applied. At the same time it goes not go into such fine detail as to make the text more accurate but less readable. In all texts this is a balancing act and one the author has carried out particularly well. This is a different take on the usual pollution text and would be of great use to those wishing to understand more from sedimentary records.