Geoscientist Online

www.dovecotepress.com

Yorkshire is England’s largest county and, in its varied and often magnificent scenery, displays a matching range of exposed strata, from early Ordovician to the present. There have been several distinguished and still widely revered and utilised accounts of its geology, dating back to the early 19th Century, but this new offering by Paul Ensom is to my knowledge the first that is directed so unashamedly at the general public and non-practising geologist. A fair indication of the style of writing and the intended audience is given by the ‘racy’ chapter titles; e.g. the Permo-Triassic rocks appear under the title The Heat is On.

The book is attractively produced with generally excellent illustrations, including several global palaeogeographical reconstructions. After some introductory and summary chapters, the rocks are considered from the oldest upwards - with descriptions of their lithology, thickness, facies variation, palaeogeography and main contemporary life forms. There are a few minor factual errors, but in no case would the reader be misled in any significant way. The text is generally well written and easily understood, though I would have welcomed the addition of some cross-sections to better clarify the complex facies and thickness changes in the Upper Palaeozoic and Mesozoic rocks. Another valuable feature of these chapters is the emphasis on the (regrettably, mainly former) commercial value and varied economic uses of the rocks. The final chapters on water and meteorite occurrences, despite their undoubted value and interest, rather have the feel of add-ons, and perhaps room for the information they contain could have been found elsewhere in the book.

There are numerous books available to the general reader on particular aspects or specific areas of Yorkshire geology, but this book is the only one that I have come across that covers the whole county in a comprehensive manner. Unfortunately, at £22.50 is seems rather expensive, compared for example with the £12.50 being asked at Amazon for Tony Waltham’s recent book on the Yorkshire Dales. Nevertheless, Paul Ensom and his publishers have generally achieved their aims and the book should be widely welcomed, particularly by the many non-specialist readers interested in the region. It will also be invaluable as a teaching aid in schools. In addition, many professional geologists, whatever their links to the county, will eagerly find a ready space for such an attractive book on their bookshelves.

Doug Holliday