The present book on the two largest and most impressive tortoises of the African continent is the result of an immensely assiduous study by Holger Vetter to produce a uniform and therefore well-structured work that comprises observations from both nature and captivity. This must obviously include the threats facing the two species of tortoise in their native countries today and the respective attempts to conserve them, and the problems related to which are discussed. This book will therefore serve as a source of information and reference to field herpetologists, tortoise keepers, conservationists, and any other person who in some form or other has to deal with leopard tortoises or African spurred tortoises.