Introduction to Coastal Processes and Geomorphology

Introduction to Coastal Processes and Geomorphology. By Robin Davidson-Arnott Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009, 442 pp, £29.99 (paperback) ISBN 978 0 5216 9671 5

Introduction to Coastal Processes and Geomorphology is intended 'primarily as a textbook for an upperlevel undergraduate course in coastal processes and geomorphology'. It joins a handful of well established coastal geomorphology textbooks aimed at broadly similar academic levels, including Carter (1988), Bird (2000), Woodroffe (2002), and Masselink and Hughes (2003). A key challenge for Davidson-Arnott's book, therefore, is to distinguish itself from the existing texts in this field. To this end, his book is divided into three parts. The first part provides two short introductory chapters describing first the structure and approach of the book, followed by an overview of coastal geomorphology as a discipline. The introduction also provides a useful overview of how coasts are studied within other disciplines, which helps Io contextualise both the book and the discipline. The second part of the book, which incorporates five chapters, focuses upon transformative coastal processes....