As in the previous (fourth) edition, the text integrates the three main threads of biogeography: i) ecological biogeography (how organisms live together where they are today); ii) the analytical biogeography of present day distribution patterns (where they live, in what diversity and how they disperse); and iii) historical biogeography (how they come to live where they are today). However, this new edition has been completely revised and almost represents a total re-write of the fourth edition. Two new themes underly this text. Firstly, the involvement of mankind in almost all aspects of biogeography and, secondly, the global viewpoint, introducing more unity than the isolated, fragmented picture that can emerge from a biome approach. This edition is an enlarged format and, as a result of the thorough revision, is 25 per cent larger than the fourth, and the text is heavily supported by line drawings and photographs.