I have used this guide in the field for a decade now, on both the New England coast and the northern California coast. The guide is clear, both well-written and well-illustrated; I feel it is the best of the field guides to shells that I have used. It is limited in scope, and if you spend much time looking at shells you will soon run across a shell that is not in the guide. But it does cover the most common shells, and even for those individual species that aren't covered you will be able to figure out the family and perhaps even the genus. All in all, an excellent introduction to seashells. ( )

This is a guide that is accurate today as it was in the 1970's. The only thing that has really changed is that the endangerment status of some species of shells and mollusks has changed drastically since the sixties. Excellent for those interested in collecting seashells. ( )