The fungi represent superb tools for the study of evolution 'in action' This 1987 book was the first to bring together, in one volume, coverage of the growing consensus of knowledge and ideas concerning evolutionary biology of the fungi in the widest sense. It draws, not only upon the impetus given to the field by the molecular approaches of the time, but also on the wider technical and philosophical issues raised in the search for evolutionary pattern in fungal life styles, fungal populations and at the phylogenetic level. This fascinating text will continue to interest mycologists and evolutionary biologists.