"The Peach" provides a comprehensive up to date reference work, summarizing our knowledge of peaches and their production worldwide and includes an extensive colour plates section. Chapters written by international authorities address botany and taxonomy, breeding and genetics of cultivars and rootstocks, propagation, physiology and planting systems, crop and pest management and postharvest physiology. The book also includes a contribution on the history of cultivation and production trends in China with historical references dating back to 1100 B.C for the first time in the English language.