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Block and Moossa have produced a 600-page well-illustrated book on operative colorectal surgery for the general surgeon. The book begins with an excellent chapter on the history of colorectal surgery, which is particularly well written by Harold Ellis, MD, and gives the reader much insight regarding the beginning of the field. Strengths of this volume are the excellent and clear line drawings and the timely editorial comment.
I was a little disappointed not to see any references to magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasonography, or other imaging techniques in the chapter on anatomy. These modalities have certainly aided us in our diagnosis and management of colorectal disorders. So often today we are called on to interpret anatomical derangements with these new modalities.
Surgical techniques in inflammatory bowel disease were still evolving in 1994.I was surprised to see that the authors of this particular chapter still advocated a long muscular cuff with a