When I received this book for review, my initial reaction was one of bemusement—not another treatise on hepatobiliary (HPB) surgery! There is hardly an HPB unit in the world that has not written its "own" book. However, I enjoyed reading this one. It is well written and presented in a clear and relatively unbiased manner. Many of the discussions on controversial issues are completely up to date and represent rehearsals of recent debates heard at international HPB symposia.
It is difficult to select any one chapter as being better than the others, but I did warm to the very clearly written chapter on trauma. This is an area in which the initial management is so important and is often carried out by nonspecialist HPB surgeons. The advice given is clear and based on review of large series, all recently published.