There are nearly 6,000 mammalian species, among them our own. Research on our evolutionary cousins has a long history, but the last 20 years have seen particularly rapid progress in disentangling the interrelationships and evolutionary history of mammals. The present volume combines up-to-date reviews on mammalian phylogenetics with paleontological, taxonomic and evolutionary chapters and also summarizes the historical development of our insights in mammalian relationships, and thus our own place in the Tree of Life. Our book places the present biodiversity crisis in context, with one in four mammal species threatened by extinction, and reviews the distribution and conservation of mammalian diversity across the globe. This volume is the introductory tome to the new Mammalia series of the Handbook of Zoology and will be essential reading for mammalogists, zoologists and conservationists alike.

A box set of 12 Norman Wisdom classics. In 'On the Beat' Wisdom stars as a bumbling Scotland Yard car park attendant who gets his chance to be a real policeman after he accidentally catches some crooks. His advantage lies in the fact that he physically resembles one of the ringleaders. In 'Man of the Moment' the bumbling Norman (Wisdom) accidentally becomes the British delegate to an important international conference in Geneva. Hilarious chaos and amusing misunderstandings ensue. In 'Trouble in Store' Wisdom is taken on as a shop assistant in a department store. His ambition is to become a window dresser, and he falls in love at first sight with his dream-girl, Sally. After a disastrous start (chasing a bus on roller skates, entering a shop girl's hostel, the usual sort of thing), events conspire to make Norman an unlikely hero. In 'Up in the World' Wisdom stars as the bumbling window cleaner to Lady Banderville. He has to cope with the pranks of her son, Sir Reggie, but cleans up when he confounds a gang of kidnappers. In 'The Square Peg' Norman Pitkin (Wisdom) is keen to help the war effort, and turns out to be a dead ringer for an enemy general. Joining up with his colleague, Mr Grimsdale, he is posted to France as part of a team repairing the damaged roads. Captured by the enemy, he turns his uncanny resemblance to his own advantage and comes home a hero. In 'Follow a Star' Wisdom plays a shop worker (imaginatively also named Norman, as indeed is every character he has ever portrayed) who dreams of becoming a famous singer. His attempts are, of course, disastrous, until he is encouraged by music teacher Miss Dobson, and a crippled girl named Judy. In 'The Bulldog Breed' Norman Puckle (Wisdom) is a grocer who joins the Navy and finds himself chosen to man a rocket flight into outer space. After Norman brings his own brand of madcap mayhem to the training process, his superiors begin to suspect that they might have picked the wrong person for the mission. Also starring Ian Hunter and Edward Chapman. Whilst in 'One Good Turn' Norman (Wisdom) works at the orphanage, and promises that he will buy one of its charges a model car. But how can he get the money? Proving himself equally incompetent at all jobs, he manages to raise a few laughs along the way in his attempts to earn the cash and not disappoint the little sprite. In 'A Stitch in Time' Star Wisdom plays an apprentice butcher trying to help a sick child. His bumbling efforts end up with him being banned from visiting little orphan Lindy, but Norman will go to any lengths to keep in touch with his young charge. Whilst in 'Just My Tuck', determined to win the heart of his beautiful neighbour, Norman (Wisdom) decides he wants to buy her a diamond necklace - but how can he possibly afford it? A solution offers itself when he goes to a bookmaker's, learns the intricacies of the accumulator bet, and sets out on a major winning streak. However, whenever Norman is involved things are never quite that simple, and soon enough our hapless hero finds himself in deep trouble, creating havoc at the local racetrack. In 'The Early Bird' Wisdom plays a milkman caught up in a feud between the small, traditional company that employs him and a large, modern dairy planning a hostile takeover. Will Norman, in his typically inept fashion, manage to save his company from the onset of modernity? Finally in 'Press For Time' Norman Shields (Wisdom) is an accident-prone young reporter, who only got the job because his grandfather (also played by Wisdom) happens to be the Prime Minister. Hilarious chaos ensues when Norman is sent to cover a beauty contest. Wisdom also appears in drag as a Suffragette called Emily.

School For Scoundrels sees in Terry-Thomas in his quintessential role of cad and bounder, using his lecherous ways to steal the heart of April away from her hapless suitor Henry Palfrey (Ian Carmichael). Sick of being one of life’s losers, Palfrey enrols at the college of ‘Lifemanship’ under the tutor ledge of the incomparable Alastair Sim and proceeds to learn the arts of one-upmanship and gamesmanship in an effort to outdo his caddish rivals and turn his life around.

Private's Progress teams Terry-Thomas once more with Ian Carmichael, this time in an army set comedy. Carmichael plays Stanley Windrush, a bookish and introverted flunkie from Officer candidate school, who is thrown into the deep end of rough and ready army life and must contend with rough-hewn fellow private Cox (Richard Attenborough), an eccentric crackpot Major Hitchcock (Thomas) and a nonplussed commanding officer played by Dennis Price.

Make Mine Mink is based on Peter Coke's West End comedy Breath of Spring and concerns the blundering excursions into crime of a bunch of pinheaded amateurs, who specialize in lifting valuable furs and apparently devoting the loot to charity. Terry-Thomas plays one of a group of lodgers who all team up as the thieves as a convenient escape from the meaningless routine of their daily lives. Along with their aging landlady Dame Appleby (Athene Seyler), the misfits conspire to carry out a series of daring raids, keeping the only ex-con member of the household in the dark – the beautiful housekeeper played by Billie Whitelaw.

Bungling thieves are the order of the day once again in Too Many Crooks that also stars fellow Comic Icon Sid James. When their planned robbery of the safe lecherous millionaire Billy Gordon (Terry-Thomas) actually results in the kidnap of his wife, Gordon couldn’t be happier to be rid of her. Refusing to pay the ransom sets the stage for Mrs Gordon’s sweet revenge…

The Naked Truth is the third in the trilogy of films here scripted by Michael Pertwee. Co-starring Peter Sellers in one of his early roles, the film centres around the exploits of four celebrities, including Terry-Thomas as politician Lord Mayley, who band together to assassinate from blackmailing low-life reporter Dennis (Dennis Price).

Brothers In Law sees Terry-Thomas star alongside Richard Attenborough and Ian Carmichael in this comedy about an hapless newly qualified barrister and his first disastrous appearances in court as he encounters a succession of cantankerous judges.

The United States is truly a nation of immigrants, or as the poet Walt Whitman once said, a ""nation of nations."" Spanning the time from when the Europeans first came to the New World to the present day, the new ""Immigration to the United States"" set conveys the excitement of these stories to young people. Beginning with a brief preface to the set written by general editor Robert Asher that discusses some of the broad reasons why people came to the New World, both as explorers and settlers, each book's narrative highlights the themes, people, places, and events that were important to each immigrant group. In an engaging, informative manner, each volume describes what members of a particular group found when they arrived in the United States as well as where they settled. Historical information and background on the various communities present life as it was lived at the time they arrived. The books then trace the group's history and current status in the United States. Each volume includes photographs and illustrations such as passports and other artifacts of immigration, as well as quotes from original source materials. Box features highlight special topics or people, and each book is rounded out with a glossary, timeline, further reading list, and index.