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This excellent book was written by a surgeon, a pediatrician, and a radiologist in collaboration. The different experiences, skills, and perspectives of each are well blended, and the result of this team effort is a remarkably brief and concise but very informative treatise on the subject. The style is informal, simple, and straightforward. It reads easily (approximate time, two hours), the subject matter is covered remarkably well, interest is maintained throughout, and a great many "pearls" on diagnosis and important "do's and don'ts" in management are offered. It is perhaps a bit too dogmatic in some places, particularly with the use of the world "never." Though the infant with an acute surgical abdomen seldom exhibits abdominal rigidity, I have seen rigidity in such infants on rare occasions. The point is well taken, however, that its absence does not preclude the diagnosis.
There are 14 chapters. Most outstanding are those devoted