Authoritative writing in a style accessible to the general reader, comprehensive coverage, a taxonomic arrangement to facilitate comparison between species, consistent organization, ample color illustrations and photographs, incorporation of current research, and the inclusion of conservation status and the significance of the animal to humans make Grzimek's an excellent choice for academic, large public, and special libraries.
Volumes 12-16, Mammals, are a rich source of information on this popular group, from platypuses to moles to bats to wildebeests to whales to humans. The illustrations are of mixed appeal; some look like strained imitations of reality, while others seem as if the animals could walk off the page. A less current revision is McGraw-Hill's 1990 Grzimek's Encyclopedia of Mammals, distinguished by exceptional large-format action photographs.

Andre Norton-Grand Mistress of science fiction-presents a grand tapestry of the far-flung interstellar future, in which the first starships from Earth have burst out into the universe . . . only to run straight into the restraining grasp of the stagnant alien federation known as Central Control.

Only as interstellar mercenaries can humans go to the stars; the aliens who already dominate the galaxy allow no other recourse.

Pandora's Legions

by Christopher Anvil

edited by Eric Flint

 

The Centran Empire was both benevolent and complacent. Benevolent, even as it overwhelmed every new inhabited planet it encountered with its military might—but once the planet was pacified, its inhabitants were uplifted to Centran standards of living and the benefits of membership in the Empire. Complacent, because the Empire had long been expanding without encountering more than minor obstacles. And then they came across Pandora's Planet, that is, Earth....

In spite of the Centran superiority in technology, the conquest of Earth took over three months, when the invaders were used to wrapping things up in less than two weeks. But "conquest" might be too optimistic a term to use, since the locals were still waging guerrilla warfare and sabotage, and the Centrans were hanging on by their equivalent of fingernails. And then the Centran scientists tested a group of humans and found that the humans were more intelligent than the Centrans.

One Centran leader had an idea that might save the Centrans from being ignominiously kicked off the planet again.  Since the humans were good at war, why not put together teams of humans to go out to the fringes of Centran space and handle planets that were proving difficult? The teams performed magnificently—but back in the heart of the Empire, humans and their weird new ideas were spreading like wildfire, and if something weren't done soon, the humans would end up running the former Centran Empire....