“Shells alive!” is just what the title suggests: a book about almost every aspect of living molluscs. The author explains in easy-to-understand terms how molluscs form shells and how these shells grow, how they move about, hunt down their food and consume it. The breeding habits of molluscs are discussed, along with the various methods that different species use to fertilse their eggs, most of which in many cases become the food of predators. There are over 140 photographs in colour and black and white, covering the five major groups of molluscs. These illustrations depict molluscs in almost every attitude of their daily lives (from mating to meal-times, during daytime and night-time) and are a photographic natural history record gleaned by the author from 17 years research and 6000 transparencies.

Edition: 1981