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This is a beautiful book, complete, scholarly, discriminating, and thoroughly documented (200 of its 800 pages are given over to some 3,000 references), and it is well written. Think of a problem relating to the red blood cell (RBC). First, you will find it indexed, a plus for any medical book nowadays. This will direct you to a balanced, useful exposition and a judicious conclusion. There is a logical association of sections, eg, globin synthesis with the hemoglobinopathies, porphyrin synethesis with porphyria, iron metabolism with iron-lack anemia, bile pigment metabolism with hemolytic disease, and RBC function with methemoglobinemia. Each of the 11 sections is a masterful synthesis. Emphasis is on mechanisms and diagnosis. Treatment is scantily covered in only five disorders, but the book, by title and design, is not intended to be a guide to the therapy of anemia. It is not without error, but such errors as