The contributions in this book were presented, orally or as posters, at the International Volcanological Congress held in New Zealand from 1 to 9 February 1986, the centenary year of the Tarawera eruption of 10 June 1886. More than 500 people, from 29 countries, attend­ ed the Congress. Most of these works formed part of Symposium 4, "Volcanic Hazards - Prediction and Assess­ ment", convened by J.H. Latter, R.R. Dibble, D.A. Swanson and C.G. Newhall. The collection represents over half of the published abstracts of Symposium 4, together with three papers given at the Symposium, which lacked abstracts, and two which were part of Symposium 1 on pyroclastic flow deposits. The contributions cover a good proportion of the volcanically active parts of the world, with Italy, Japan, the West Indies and the USA especially well represented. Mount Erebus, Vulcano and Rabaul are individual volcanoes which have been treated in particular detail. Unfor­ tunately, there are no chapters in the book dealing with Africa, the Atlantic islands (except Iceland), Hawaii, Central America (except Mexico), or South America (in spite of the major disaster at Nevado del Ruiz Volcano in 1985).