This is the first monograph to cover the bustards, hemipodes and sandgrouse, three taxonomically distinct and diverse families whose members have become adapted to life in deserts, semi-deserts, or steppes of the Old World. Fifty-one species are covered, all but one illustrated by paintings by Major Henry Jones, with one new painting by Marc Marcuson. The text includes comparative chapters on taxonomy and phylogeny of the three groups, their zoogeography, social behaviour, breeding biology and status. Individual species accounts cover identification and range.