Eleanor Jane Sterling is director, Martha Maud Hurley is biodiversity scientist, and Minh Duc Le is Vietnam biodiversity specialist, all at the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum of Natural History. Joyce Ann Powzyk is visiting assistant professor of biology at Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT.

A country uncommonly rich in plants, animals, and natural habitats, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam shelters a significant portion of the world's biological diversity, including rare and unique organisms and an unusual mixture of tropical and temperate species. This book is the first comprehensive account of Vietnam's natural history in English. Illustrated with maps, photographs, and thirty-five original watercolour illustrations, the book offers a complete tour of the country's plants and animals along with a full discussion of the factors shaping their evolution and distribution. Separate chapters focus on northern, central, and southern Vietnam, regions that encompass tropics, subtropics, mountains, lowlands, wetland and river regions delta and coastal areas, and offshore islands. The authors provide detailed descriptions of key natural areas to visit, where a traveller might explore limestone caves or glimpse some of the country's twenty-seven monkeys and ape species and more than 850 bird species. The book also explores the long history of humans in the country, including the impact of the Vietnam-American War on plants and animals, and describes current efforts to conserve Vietnam's complex, fragile, and widely threatened biodiversity.