"Agricultural and Redistribution: Toward Greater Consensus addresses a major policy dilemma: how to benefit from the development gains agricultural land redistribution is expected to generate while avoiding the losses caused by the highly inperfect ways redistribution in generally implemented. The authors addres this issues through a board historical perspective and a world tour of case studies. They conclude that flexibility is needed when selecting transfer mechanism, in particular seeking a balance between subsidized market transactions, land taxation, and expropriation; when introducing effective conflict resolution mechanism during redistribution: when establishing secure property rights for beneficiaries; and when giving support to the new farmers so that they rapidly become competitive. The assessment is sobering; it points to acmal gains as well as to numerous unresolved difficulties. The authors rightly note that the lack of solid impact evaluations complicates the task of identiflying the best process for successful implementation. This book provides valuable information on a subject that remains incompletely understood, yet central to development".