Edited by R James England and Eamon Shamil

Published by CRC Press (May 2022)

Price £54.99

https://www.routledge.com/Scott—Brown-s-Essential-Otorhinolaryngology-Head–Neck-Surgery/England-Shamil/p/book/9781138608481

This book is a first edition which sometimes puts people off as it is a first-time effort and may be lacking in places due to possible immaturity. However, this does not apply to this book as it is a mature and very good textbook. It is the daughter book, the product of a larger three volume collection which is used by specialist ENT surgeons. This distillation provides people who want an ENT reference text with a solid clinical background but expanding the market to other healthcare professionals such as GPs and specialist nurses. Equally I am sure ENT specialists will appreciate this general and very readable review. It is a great all round ENT book which has clear British roots because many of its contributors come from the UK. Being the offspring of such a large textbook gives it a good running start and it certainly makes the best if it’s heritage.

It is a very readable, highly detailed and clinically focussed book and manages to straddle the educational needs of both secondary care ENT specialists and primary care staff such as GPs. This is a very impressive achievement and its own, it would make a great one stop ENT book for GPs. The book is divided into 5 sections and each section starts with the relevant basics such as anatomy and physiology whilst the final section on paediatric ENT covers the consultation. The book is well written with good illustrations and tables whilst the text is well broken up into easy to read sections. I also liked the key points boxes which neatly summarises the issues highlighted and makes learning that bit easier.

The book runs to 591 pages and is compact in size, so it could fit into a small briefcase or be unobtrusive on a desk and is slightly larger than handbook though much chunkier. It seems surprisingly comprehensive which considering its roots this may be not that surprising. The chapters are not that big, so if you are reading round a topic it is not too difficult to read the whole associated chapter which add to the learning process and general interest.

Some chapters on their own are interesting and worth a read. For example, on page 297, the chapter on dysphagia and aspiration is educational and useful. I also found very helpful, the very readable chapter on the Facial nerve on page 112 which is chapter 21. This chapter covered relevant anatomy, pathophysiology as well as clinical features and naturally covers idiopathic (Bell’s) Palsy. The key points at the end of this chapter were also very useful.

This is a first class, very good all-purpose clinically focussed ENT which very much fulfils the title’s aim of “Essential” and easily succeeds. The cover proclaims there are additional e-resources at www.scottbrownent.com  though at the time of writing this feature was not available. I also think this book for what you get, is very keenly priced and I am sure will do well. It deserves to do well and be well received.

Dr Harry Brown

15^th September 2022