Edited William Hay, Robin Deterding, Myron Levin and Mark Abzug

Published by McGraw Hill Education Lange

ISBN 978-0-07-182734-8

Published 2014

Price £59.99

http://www.mheducation.co.uk/9780071827348-emea-current-diagnosis-and-treatment-pediatrics

Lange medical titles have been around for a number of years and this is another good example of one of their stable. It is an excellent, general purpose, all round paediatrics text which covers a vast subject area within its 1524 pages. The title gives away the fact that is an American textbook (check the spelling!) with an impressive array of authors listed at the beginning. However, it certainly offers a global audience, a very good in-depth review of general paediatrics. In-depth is certainly the operative word, it is a very detailed review covering the whole field and is certainly ideal for both GPs and specialists. I would think it would be too detailed for undergraduates though it could act as a trusty reference source for medical students.

The book is well written and primarily text driven but the text like in all modern textbooks, is broken up into small paragraphs with clear headings. There are a number of tables and figures whilst the book is pleasing on the eye as good use is made of colour. I used it as a reference source and I was impressed. Certainly from my perspective as GP, it seemed to be really good and helpful. Of course its North American origins don’t always easily transplant to foreign shores but that is a minor negative. The vast majority of the contents will be useful to most healthcare professionals in most of the world.

It is not only a very good reference source, it is well written and hence it is easy to simply read a specific section to brush up on your knowledge of this particular area. This can include common and not so common scenarios and generally speaking, I found this book impressively comprehensive. However, the best part of this whole book is the price, I think it represents excellent value for money considering the volume of information contained in its covers. Yes, it may be a paperback and there may not be a web or app version bundled with the book purchase but it is still a great purchase if you are looking for a good, general all purpose reference source. It is now in its 22^nd edition and so is a mature offering which has evolved into a first class general paediatrics textbook. It is certainly worthy of consideration if you are in the market of such a textbook.  It is ideal for GPs and paediatricians, especially in the training grades.  Don’t worry too much about its American origins much of the material is still very relevant to UK practice.

Dr Harry Brown

March 2016