Understanding Bonsai is about as complete a book as you can get about the art of bonsai. It covers every thinkable aspect of bonsai from the definition through the history, styling, growing, exhibiting and evaluating in remarkable detail. The subject is treated in such a way that the very lay person can get all the elementary information needed to start understanding the art, but the more advanced growers can also benefit by the detailed, researched sections on applicable art as well as sound information on botanical issues. Throughout the book the author stresses the fact that growing bonsai is a form of artistic expression, but cannot be practiced without a thorough knowledge of ways to keep these living art objects healthy and growing well. The information is supplied. The chapters are set up to group different fields of interest in a user friendly manner. The contents page already gives a wide coverage of the scope of the book on a single page. The index at the end of the book is extremely detailed. A list of Japanese bonsai terms and translations into English is included, because the reader will come across these terms in this and other publications. A short glossary of more common botanical terms and compact descriptions thereof will help the lay person to understand some botany. The chapter on all the different styles is located in the heart of the book and along with the next chapter on characterizing trees will lead the bonsai grower into designing each and every imaginable shape of tree. An index of common tree names and their Latin counterparts has been included after the new chapter on different species of trees. More than two hundred species and variants of trees are described in the last chapter. This information covers their growth requirements and details with regard to their keeping as bonsai. Species from all over the world and its varying climates are included. This section can hardly ever be completed due to knowledge about trees and their suitability as bonsai constantly evolving. Notwithstanding, the chapter on species contains a wealth of data. The book is richly illustrated with more than 300 drawings by the author. In many instances the drawings are of actual bonsai existing somewhere in some collection. This has been done to emphasize that bonsai can be achieved. They exist. This book is about the reality and is not a theory. The photographs are of trees created by the author and a few friends. They show what can be managed in only a few years.