This volume has taken much longer in its preparation than one would have wished but thisis what might have been anticipated if the top people in their fields are asked to write relevantchapters. All the authors are exceptionally busy people so it is to their credit that theyhave now produced what I believe to be a valuable volume that will support the practisingforensic scientist. Inevitably with a book of this nature there will be developments in theforensic sciences which it has not been possible to include and some of the authors whowere able to return their manuscript early may have wished that such inclusions could havebeen made but to have done so would have extended the preparation time. Continuousrevision means that books never get published. As the title suggests, this volume coverstrace evidence as it relates to glass and paint and follows a regular pattern of defining thematerial describing the analytical processes and discussing how these may be applied toglass and paint. Finally each area describes how the analytical results may be interpretedfor the courts. I ask the authors to forgive me for the times I had to resort to bullying tacticsbut I hope that they feel the final result has been worth it. I trust all find it good and valuablereading.