THE raw beauty and splendour of Africa are unveiled as seldom before in this more concise version of the ultimate coffee table book.

Photographer Michael Poliza's bestseller Africa weighed in at over 13lbs and this more portable version contains the best of his magnificent images, shot over months criss-crossing the continent.

Taken from the air and ground, his pictures show Africa and its wildlife from every conceivable angle, including some stunning aerial pictures of elephant and buffalo herds.

Poliza displays a keen eye for contrasts with a magnificent picture of a white egret among a flock of its black cousins. A kingfisher is captured in all its radiance, while another is frozen against golden sunset with its wingtips picked out in light, as it hovers over unseen prey.

Galloping zebras are caught in mid-stride and a giraffe slurps from a pond with its legs splayed out in perfect symmetry.

All of his photographs are taken with a digital camera at a resolution that would put any transparency to shame.

Unusually, all the pictures are spread across two pages, but such is the power of his composition and the care with which the book has been produced that the join goes unnoticed. There is no text, but then these pictures speak for themselves.

Poliza, who is passionate about the fragile eco-systems he chronicles, notes in his introduction: "No animals or people were harassed, harmed or killed while the pictures in this book were being taken. All of the photographs were shot in unfenced areas in the wild." The care he takes is evident on every page.