The area of weed science is worthy of a historical perspective, but there is only rather limited coverage, compared with entomology and plant pathology. This is surprising, given the importance of weeds in causing losses in both crop yield and quality and the importance of the global herbicide market. This rather short but intriguing book provides an interesting journey though the history of weed science in the USA in its early chapters.

The chapter on the development of entomology and plant pathology in comparison with weed science is well covered and illuminating, as is that on the early days of the study of weeds. An alternative narrative structure might have been a more effective and informative approach to the history of the founders of weed science, the list approach gives little sense of the connectivity and influence of one upon another, an aspect which is always illuminating with regard to differing views and perspectives. The crucial role and development of university weed science programmes and regional weed societies is well covered, as is the area of herbicide development. The final three chapters, covering the changes in agricultural practice, the agrochemical industry and future developments are less satisfying and somewhat repetitive, with too much philosophy and personal perspective for this reviewer. More detail on the areas of herbicide resistance and GM technology would have been useful. A final point that the publisher should reconsider is the lack of an index in the hard copy of this book and others in this series. This seriously hampers the reader in effective use of what is a small but useful, if rather expensive contribution.