The literature of starch has proliferated in the last ten years at an almost geometric rate and a number of important changes and developments in the technology of starch and its derivatives have taken place which make it highly desirable to review these in some depth. The immensity of the subject determined the writer to seek the assistance of a number of prominent workers throughout the world. Where older work contains factual information of present value it has been retained, generally in the form of Additional References. These are brief abstracts which will help specialised searches in a branch of the subject to complete the information given in the text. Inclusion of dis­ jointed information can often lead to the loss of coherence and clarity, and the device of the Additional References, whilst allowing smooth presentation, also allows the inclusion of up-to-the-minute material appearing after the main text has been written. The rewarding techniques of transmission and scanning electron microscopy have been dealt with for the first time in a book of this nature.