This is the third edition of a book first published in 1994 by Longman. The evolution of the title from Leisure Policy and Planning, via Leisure and Tourism Policy and Planning to the cur rent Leisure, Sport and Tourism, Politics, Policy and Planning is partly a reflection of a gradual widening of scope of the book and partly a response to the increasing specialization in fields of academic study, academic departments and courses. Thus sport has always been included within the scope of the book as a significant component of leisure, but there is a chance that potential readers involved exclusively with sport might see a book with just the word leisure' in its title as not being for them. Similarly, from the beginning, the book has included a chapter on political ideology and has recognized the political nature of policymaking and planning but, for some potential readers, this might not have been apparent from the title. In theory this process could be extended further, with the inclusion of terms such as recreation, exercise, play, events, culture and the arts, and management, decision-making and evaluation, but there are some practical limitations to the length of a book title!