If in this era of “quick fix” and instant information you are looking for information about Old World Vipers (frequently called “True Vipers”) this book is for you. I am unaware of any previous single work in English that addresses all of these interesting snakes. Many of the species presented are well known in living collections and “foreign” literature, but some are little more than a preserved type specimen somewhere in an obscure Eastern Hemisphere Museum.

The Introduction opens with characteristics that differentiate the three subfamilies of Viperidae (Azemiopinae, Causinae, and Viperinae). The rest of it deals with venoms, injecting apparatus, and treatment. Fourteen chapters follow. These 280 plus pages follow an easy to read format that presents 85 species of the 14 genera that the authors have chosen to include. Assignment of specific rank to many previous subspecies is prevalent. Conversely, others are retained as subspecies. No doubt, some readers will question many designations because there is continuing disagreement among taxonomists about the evolution of the forms and their relationships. The authors make this point in the preface.

Chapters nine (Eristicophis), eleven (Monthatheris), and thirteen (Pseudocerastes) are the briefest with four or less pages because they have one genus and are monospecific. The first chapter (Azemiopinae) is also necessarily one of the briefest with five pages. There is only one genus Azemiops feae. This chapter sets the tone for the upcoming ones and associated accounts. The scientific name is followed by the describer, common name, and date of the description. Then there are sections on: Recognition, Taxonomy and Distribution, Habitat, Food and Feeding, Behavior, Reproduction and Development, Bite and Venom, and Remarks. Some forms are very well known (e.g., Bitis gabonicar) and are expanded to as many as 15 pages, while others (e.g., Vipera latastei) are scarcely more than a page. Basically, if there is no published data or it is limited, sections are reduced or removed. While reading the accounts I had the impression that the authors provided little first hand information. Rather they scoured the literature, extrapolated data, and presented a synopsis.

The expansive, 49 page bibliography is a valuable addition for researchers who need more data. However, I found one important unnamed citing that was omitted; a taxonomic checklist by David and Ineich 1999. I chose not to undertake the time-consuming task of attempting to uncover others. Because of the subject matter most of the included works are published in European journals with many in languages other than English. The inclusions are weighted heavily toward venoms and toxinology; interesting, but not detailed enough for venomologists. There is a distinct lack of references to what many in the academic community consider “unscientific”, herpetoculture and husbandry books and magazines. This is a great disservice to those who have spent vast amounts of time and energy in learning techniques necessary to maintain many of these rare and otherwise unknown snakes. Including their work would have been a great asset to the book and would likely open many doors to ecological research that needs to be undertaken.

A total of color 71 photographs, mostly two on a page, are inserted as a package near the center of the book. Some of the images are of beautiful, rarely seen snakes (e.g., Bitis worthingtoni, Echis multisquamatus,Vipera pontica, V. seonei cantabrica), while others are quite common in collections (e.g., Atheris squamigera, Bitis nasicornis, Vipera ammodytes). Four photographers supplied all of the images. Again, the book would have been greatly improved if a variety of photographers were contacted and the number of forms shown was expanded. Eleven images are “head shots” of relatively common snakes that are also shown full body. A few are important because they illustrate interesting characteristics, extended supraoculars and rostrals, but the others could have been additional forms. The photographs are of fair to good quality and reproduced adequately in most cases. I question the poor color bias of more than a half dozen because it is very simple matter to adjust the shift in tonality when scanning the images. Likely this was a method of limiting production costs.

No other illustrations are included to supplement and embellish the text. There are no maps to define ranges, and line drawings would have embellished the text and help clarify specific anatomical characteristics. The nine page Glossary is useful, but the space would have been utilized for what is arguably the most unfortunate shortcoming of this book, the omission of an Index. Finding a species requires checking the contents pages and looking though appropriate chapters.

Overall quality of this book is similar to other recent Krieger herpetological presentations. The hard cover has a plasticized finish that incorporates what we have previously considered a dust jacket to protect the integrity of the book. The package enables it to survive fairly rough handling. Paper quality and choice of type enable crisp text and easy reading.

Readers interested in venomous snakes should consider this book as a practical addition to their library. It is not the definitive source, but a valuable starting point for further investigation.