Agriculture is the largest economic sector in most countries of Latin American, Africa, and Asia, and the taxation of agricultural land is a potentially important instrument in the development policies of such nations. But there is a large gap between theory and practice, a gap that needs explaining. In addition, there have been interesting changes in thought on the role of such taxation in development. Richard M. Bird covers all this in a complete rethinking of the whole subject. His book is a distinguished successor to Haskell P. Wald’s classic study, , published by Harvard University Press in 1959. With abundant evidence Bird argues that the tax system of each country, in order to be effective as a part of development policy, must be tailored carefully to peculiar circumstances and objectives of that country.