This volume is concerned with the geological history of the ancient supercontinent known as Gondwana and the former ocean called Tethys, which lay to the north of Gondwana in a region extending through what is now southern Europe, the Middle East, and the Himalayas. The continental movements that took place in this region from the late Palaeozoic onwards are now known to be much more complicated than was previously thought. Evidence bearing on these problems is presented here from a wide variety of disciplines: tectonics, palaeomagnetic studies, stratigraphy, and palaeogeography.