Gavin Spikett – Published by Oxford University Press (2013) 3^nd edition

And Oxford Handbook of respiratory medicine

Stephen Chapman, Grace Robinson, John Stradling, Sophie West and John Wrightson

Published by Oxford University Press (2014) 3^nd edition

Combined pack ISBN: 9780198793878

Price £49.99

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/oxford-handbook-of-respiratory-medicine-and-oxford-handbook-of-clinical-immunology-and-allergy-9780198793878

It goes without saying that these are two excellent books worthy of being members of the equally excellent Oxford Handbook medical handbook series. Incredibly, according to https://global.oup.com/academic/content/series/o/oxford-medical-handbooks-oxhmed there are now 94 members of this outstanding series. I have not seen all of them but I have seen a good number and they are all excellent, clinically focussed handbooks that are great for dealing with a specific patient problem. It is like having an expert on hand and despite being described as handbooks, they are good and detailed textbooks. Yet they remain compact, hugely informative, well written and robustly constructed with their tough vinyl covers.

It goes without saying that each book in this duo is superb and covers its subject matter in the excellent way, we come to expect from this outstanding series. They are highly focussed in helping you with a clinical issue; each section does not take long to read and is practical and helpful. Although medical students and junior doctors as well as GP registrars will find this type of book and these two in particular, most helpful; established doctors will also find these books very helpful. The books on their own represent good value for money but as this combination produced by the publishers, the price saving is significant.

These two books in their current editions are not brand new but it is a relatively new concept of bundling them together for a more attractive price.  The respiratory book on its own is £34.99 as is the immunology book, so combined buying each as a single book comes to a total of £69.98. So buying the combinations saves a tidy sum. I suspect that many people will have a strong interest in one book and a passing interest in the other. In that case, the small extra cost could be worth it. If you are equally interested in both subjects, it is a no brainer purchase. They make great but yet compact reference books and also act as practical advisors for a huge range of issues in each book.

This is good marketing by the publishers and very tempting but what would make it even more tempting is having access to a digital version for use in a tablet or smartphone. Even a small premium would make an excellent product, even better. Even so, for many people having access to the paper product alone is still highly desirable. They are both excellent books and sold in this way makes them a great value for money purchase.

Dr Harry Brown

January 2017