This is the fourth edition of Hartley’s The Oil Palm, and the first one not prepared by the late C. W. S Hartleyhimself. It may be useful for readers who do not have access to the third edition to read the Prefaces that Hartleywrote, so they are reprinted here. They, and the books themselves, give an excellent view of how the oil palmindustry has grown and thrived in the last half century. It is no easy task to write a new edition of a book that hasalready become a classic, and we have done our best to measure up to it