388 SHORT COMMUNICATIONS

of climate, sea level or man’s action and that inherited forms will be present.

5. That structural control and the effect of water are usually dominant features.

6. That the frequency and magnitude of forces must always be borne in mind and finally he uses his own recent, stimulating contribution to general theory, the idea of stabilization and reinforcement mechanisms to impart a distinctive character to his explanations.

The method is part deductive, part inductive depend- ing on ‘creative, controlled imagination’, ‘untramelled by tradition or orthodoxy’, a sound theoretical knowledge, field experience and an ability to relate remote and seem- ingly unconnected observations. This book clearly demonstrates that the author possesses all of these attri- butes.

Yet, much as I have enjoyed reading this book I was disappointed by the omission of any substantive and modern statement of geomorphological processes, mechanisms or discussion of process-form relationships. It barely mentions the great volume of recent work on mass movement, slope, fluvial, glacial or coastal pro- cesses and is generally of introductory qualitative, stan- dard. The chapters on mass movement, slopes and fluvial processes are particularly weak, often out-of-date and occasionally incorrect. A British geomorphologist must surely find it strange to see no reference to Culling, Car- son, Kirkby or Young on slope processes; to King on

beaches and coasts; to Gregory and Walling on drainage basins; to the substantive works by Chorley, Dunn and Beckinsale; or to Thomas on Tropical Geomorphology. Even in a book so hemmed in by inselbergs as this, Thomas is only referred to with respect to depth of weathering in Nigeria! If this is thought a parochial criticism it is equally strange not to find reference to the fundamental modern papers of Terzaghi on land- slides; Rapp’s full treatment of mass movement at Kar- kevagge; Melton on slopes; Lliboutry, Glen or Boulton on glaciers, a list chosen at random and in no way com- prehensive.

This is, however, the only criticism of what is really a tour-de-force. There are very few proof-reading errors. There are occasional slips-incomplete or inaccurate keys to Figures 9.8, 9.9, 17.5E; misspelling of the Elm (Elon?) landslide; misuse of the word fluidisation in the mass movement chapter and a diagram showing anti- dunes developing under a plane water surface? (p. 236). Overall, however, the volume is beautifully produced. For anyone wanting a sound introductory textbook or wishing to excite a student to a lifelong study of geomor- phology they could not do better than purchase this book. I am delighted to have it on my desk, I doubt that it will ever reach the shelf.

DENYS BRUNSDEN University of London King’s College

PERIGLACIAL GEOMORPHOLWY, Clifford Embleton and Cuchlaine A. M. King, Edward Arnold, London, NO. of pages: 203. Price: €8.95.

This book is a thoroughly revised version of the perb glacial section of the successful Glacial and Periglacial Geomorphology originally published in 1968. The tremen- dous expansion of research in recent years is thought to justify fuller treatment of the topic in a separate book. In Periglacial Geomorphology topics are discussed under the following headings :

(i) The periglacial environment. (ii) Frozen ground phenomena. (iii) Patterned ground. (iv) Periglacial mass movements and slope deposits. (v) The action of snow. (vi) Cryoplanation, tors, blockfields and blockstreams. (vii) Periglacial wind action. These headings are essentially the same as in the 1968

edition only that cryoplanation replaces the word alti- planation. Within each chapter, there are major changes when compared to the 1968 edition. Not only are there more photographs and diagrams, but 20-35 per cent of the quoted references at the end of each chapter are later than 1968, while in the text this recent work receives even more emphasis. It is interesting to discover just how many new significant studies have appeared since 1968, a large proportion of them in new Journals such as Arc- tic and Alpine Research and Quaternary Research. In discussing this recent literature the book is an up to date and very useful review of the periglacial literature.

Throughout the book the emphasis is on landforms. The periglacial environment (especially climate and vege- tation) is covered very briefly. Processes, too, are con- sidered briefly, but this is partly a reflection of the

balance and lack of understanding represented in the literature. For example, it is humbling to realize how little is known about the apparently fundamental process of freeze-thaw. The emphasis on landforms rather than on environmental variables and processes means that there is surprisingly little overlap between Periglacial Geomorphology and A. L. Washburn’s Periglacial Pro- cesses and Environments.

A reader will be struck by how much remains to be understood about periglacial geomorphology. In particu- lar, it is notable how many new and important disco- veries seem difficult to incorporate into a coherent frame- work of understanding. This may reflect the lack of a firm synthesis in Periglaciul Geomorphology, but this reviewer wonders whether an important part of the p rob lem may not be the subject itself. At present it is a some- what unwieldy subdivision of geomorphology which is defined partly systematically (in terms of a supposedly distinctive suite of processes) and partly regionally (polar and mountain). Though once undoubtedly useful in dir- ecting attention to processes in cold climates, one wonders whether its breadth today is not such that its focus is diffuse and unhelpful. Is there any real advantage in a subject which links the study of tundra polygons in Alaska with a bare rock wall in the Himalayas, or wet tundra with the action of wind? Indeed, one could go further and say that such breadth is sometimes con- fusing. After all, the various types of patterned ground might well be more easily understood if permafrost and periglacial mass movements were studied by separate branches of geomorphology.

DAVID SUGDEN Department of Geography,

University of’ Aberdeen