Media Reviews

Interdisciplinary Perspectives on HealthPolicy & Practiceby J. Robinson, J. Latimer, M. Avis &M. TraynorChurchill Livingstone, UK, 1999, 232pages, £19á95, ISBN 0 443 05992 6.

This compilation book written by fourHealth Care Researchers makes forinteresting reading. The book is welllaid out, referenced and unusually for acompilation ¯ows easily with cross-referencing between the chapters. Thisrelatively slim volume of 211 pagescovers a lot of territory including inter-national, national and individual prac-titioner perspectives. It is written fromboth an intellectual and a personal pointof view. The authors are not afraid toreveal their motivations and indeedcritique their own previous work andthinking on the subject matter explored.The book explores whether there is aright to health care and what that meansand the interests of the various groupswho work in and manage the healthsystem.

The title of the book does not grab theimagination and some of the text couldbe a little lighter, but this book willmake you think, question your ownpractice and make you wonder who isreally serving the interests of the patient.Valuable reading for executive nurses,student nurses and leaders of the future.Ultimately, and to quote from the ®rstpage of the introduction, I would recom-mend this book to anyone who relatesthemselves to the following statement:`unfortunately, it is also unfashionableto declare one's self to be both a nurseand an intellectual'. The four authorsdemonstrate that it is possible to discussand analyse whilst not necessaryagreeing on everything. Ultimately theauthors suggest that it is somewherewithin the overlap of multidisciplinarydebate and understanding whereprogress in health services will be made.

Georgina GordonSwansea NHS Trust, UK

Concise Oxford Textbook of Medicineedited by John G.G. Ledingham &David A. WarrellOxford University Press, Oxford, 2001,2063 pages, £75á00 (hardback),ISBN 0 192 62870 4.

If this is a concise textbook of medicineI cannot imagine the shelf space thatwould be required in order to house theparent volume. The vital statistics of thebook are staggering: over 2000 pages,more than 420 contributors and 512chapters presented in 20 sections. Thegestation time of the book can only beguessed, but the fact that 13 of thecontributors are now dead, some morethan three years ago, testi®es to themagnitude of the work ± althoughproducing the textbook was, presum-ably, not a causative factor.

The book, to the surprise of few, isunashamedly medical in its model. Infact, a quote which precedes the maintext, from Mencken (1923) states that`The aim of medicine is surely not tomake men virtuous; it is to safeguardand rescue them from the consequencesof their vices. The true physician doesnot preach repentance; he offers abso-lution.' How refreshing!

It is hard to do justice to a textbook ofthis magnitude in a short review but I hadreason to consult the book for someinformation on the metabolic effects oftrauma. I was not disappointed becausethe material was up to date, quite exten-sive and useful. Clearly, the sections andchapters vary in length according to thematerial being considered but theauthority of the authors is beyond doubt.The penultimate section of the book is,politically correctly, entitled Geratology(as opposed to Gerontology) and theauthors are clear that drugs have littlerole in the care of the person withdementia. Otherwise, the book is beauti-fully presented with blue as the colour forheadings, subheadings and diagramsthroughout. There is also an excellentselection of full colour plates which

precedes the main text. I am very pleasedto add this text to my bookshelves fromwhere it will be an excellent aid to myown teaching and writing.

Roger WatsonMedia Reviews Editor

Philosophy of Nursing ± An Introductionby Steven D. EdwardsPalgrave, Basingstoke, 212 pages,£17á99, ISBN 0 333 74991 X.

This is Steven Edward's ®fth book. Thosewho are familiar with his work will ®ndthe latest publication to be as intellectu-ally demanding, professionally challen-ging and rewarding as his previous work.The aim of the book, as described in itsintroduction, is to review some of themain areas of enquiry within the topic ofphilosophy of nursing. The ®rst chaptergives an overview of philosophy ofnursing, containing sections on episte-mology, ontology, value-enquiry andlogic, and the remainder of the book isorganized according to this generalpattern. The author successfully adoptsthe strategy of `tacking' (to use a mari-time analogy) between nursing issueswhich, at face value have a philosophicaldimension ± such as the nature of `care' innursing ± and the literature of main-stream philosophy. The result is a bookwhich nurses with no formal training inphilosophy will ®nd relevant and inform-ative, whilst those with some formalphilosophical training will ®nd relevantand well informed.

The academic literature of the nursingprofession makes frequent reference tophilosophy philosophers. The quality ofthe link is often tentative and philo-sophical concepts are, not infrequently,misunderstood and poorly applied. Thisbook provides a model of scholarshipand will be invaluable to students under-taking postgraduate degrees in nursing.It is not the easiest read on the book-shelf, but it will repay study.

Peter DraperUniversity of Hull, UK

Ó 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd 115