This book is not a field guide: rather it is an insight into the biology and life history of snakes in and around Australia. It opens the door on an exciting and relatively new area of research. Dr Shine has pioneered much of this work himself and may be considered Australia's foremost authority on snakes.

Although the foundations of this book are truly scientific, it has a light and easy style, peppered with amusing and occasionally alarming anecdotes.

It is a book for the curious general reader and for zoologists and ecologists everywhere.