"Oh, those pesky Gull Brothers are at it again!" Buster Crab and his brother Sandy complained to Big Bill the Pelican. Buzzy Seagull and his brother Speedy are annoying everyone at the the Crabby Shack, swooping down and trying to steal the food from the customers! "What are we going to do about that?" the Crabby Brothers want to know. But Big Bill doesn't know. Good old Big Bill is curious, adventurous, hopeful, generous, and kind. But he would never tell you that about himself because he is also humble and knows that he was not blessed with much wisdom. He is not the one who will know what to do to help the Crabby Brothers with their problem or two. But he knows who can: his friend from inland, Solomon the wise Snail. And yet...can even the wise Solomon be the one to teach those rude seagulls how to say Please and Thank you? Or will the mysterious Mighty Wondrous Voice of Love choose another to be the brave one when Solomon Snail Goes To The Beach?

One humid summer night in Gibraltar, lawyer Spike Sanguinetti arrives home to find an old friend, Solomon Hassan, waiting on his doorstep.Solomon is on the run, accused of a brutal murder in Tangiers. He has managed to skip across the Straits but the Moroccan authorities want him back.Spike travels to Tangiers to try to delay Solomon's extradition, and there meets a beautiful Bedouin girl. Zahra is investigating the disappearance of her father, a trail which leads mysteriously back to Solomon. Questioning how well he really knows his friend, Spike finds himself drawn into a dangerous game of secrets, corruption and murderous lies.

This richly illustrated book presents the diversity and natural history of sea snail groups. By integrating aspects of morphology, ecology, evolution and behaviour, it describes how each group copes with problems of defence, locomotion, nutrition, reproduction and embryonic development. First come general characteristics of the Mollusca, to which snails belong; and next, characteristics by which snails (Gastropoda) differ from other molluscs. Then a broad, panoramic view of all major sea snail groups, from the primitive to the more advanced, is presented, including both the more abundant and some remote ones of special interest. In detailing primitive sea snails, first limpets (Patellogastropoda) are described, followed by brush snails (Vetigastropoda: top-shells, turbans and allies) and nerites (Neritimorpha), a small group with remarkably high variation in shell colour and in habitats. In looking at advanced-snails (Caenogastropoda), it details the herbivorous grazers and filter-feeders and the many voracious predators, some which use venomous darts. The book also covers sea slugs (Opisthobranchia), which have shifted from mechanical to chemical defence; some are herbivores, some use their food to harness solar energy, others are predators that gain stinging cells and poisonous compounds from their food. In addition, readers will learn about aspects of sea snails in human culture, including use as sacred artefacts and objects of magic and money, as a source of the royal and sacred dyes of purple and blue and as holy ceremonial trumpets. The text, in which scientific terms are accompanied by parallel common ones, is accompanied by over 200 illustrations (mostly in colour). This comprehensive, insightful portrait of sea snails will appeal to marine biologists, zoology lecturers and students, biology teachers, field-school instructors, nature reserve wardens, amateur naturalists, as well as to lecturers and learners of human culture.

The story of King Solomon, as told by his court historian.