So attached was the author Patricia Highsmith to snails that they became her constant traveling companions. Secreted in a large handbag or, in the case of travel abroad, carefully positioned under each breast, they provided her with comfort and companionship in what she perceived to be a hostile world. Theirs was perhaps an unusual relationship; for most of us snails do not elicit feelings of warmth or affection, or a desire to share our living space. Apart from our repugnance at their appearance, our relationship with the snail has been influenced by the harm it has inflicted over the years on our cabbages, potatoes and garden seedlings. Volumes on snails are universally hostile; their language is often heated and full of military metaphors. ‘Understand the enemy as a first step to banishment’, says one, while another urges us to ‘stop them in their tracks with a barrier or a trap’. While the majority of gardeners would agree with this sentiment, Snail , by Peter Williams, presents a more positive account of this much-maligned creature. Beginning with an overview of our relationship with snails, slugs and sea-snails, he goes on to examine snail evolution; snail behavior and habitat; snails as food, medicine, and the source of useful chemicals and dyes; snail shells as collectible objects; and snails in literature, art, and popular culture. The author concludes with a plea for a reconsideration of the snail as a dignified, ancient creature that deserves our respect, rather than one to be squashed thoughtlessly underfoot after a shower of rain. Containing many surprising and quite beautiful illustrations, and written in an approachable, informal style, Snail will prove instructive to all who thought that this animal was simply a garden pest to be enthusiastically destroyed.