Rook/Wilkinson/Ebling Textbook of Dermatology: Edited by R.H.C hampion, J.L.B urton, D.A.B urns and S.M.B reathnach (1998). Oxford: Blackwell Science. 3683 pp. ISBN 0-632-03796-2. Price £395.00.

Abstract

To be asked to review ‘The Rook Book’ is in itself a compliment — an invitation to pass judgement on an institution albeit one that is only 31 years old. How then does a textbook of dermatology in its 6th edition comprising 71 authors, 4 volumes, 83 chapters and 3683 pages serve the needs of modern day, computer literate specialist registrars, clinical assistants, peripatetic district general hospital consultants and ivory tower academics alike? The 6th edition has changed its styling, gone is the old ‘boxed set’— probably a wise move as the boxes were either lost, or traumatic onycholysis ensued from extraction of volumes from said boxes, necessitating their disposal. Each volume is colour coded — Volume 1, red, Volume 2, green, Volume 3, grey and Volume 4, blue — I am unsure of the significance of the colours, but they do brighten the bookshelf. The addition of two new editors — Drs Burns and Breathnach — to join the stalwarts, Dr Champion and Professor Burton is a move to maintain the dynasty. A textbook such as this is a heavyweight contender in all senses of the word; it weighs in at 13 kilograms! For the first time colour photographs are used throughout, most of which are of very high quality but a few are poorly reproduced — one would have thought that with the time available to find good photographs of individual conditions that substitutes could have been found for some of the poorer quality pictures. I am certain that members of the British Association of Dermatologists — bearing in mind that this is a thoroughly British textbook — would have within their excellent slide collections the requisite substitutes. Inevitably with a multi‐authored book of this size there will be heterogeneity of style, but commendably there is little if any contradiction in facts from chapter to chapter. Although there are in excess of one thousand colour pictures it is surprising there are still occasional colourless deserts of pages barren of all colour apart from closely written text. The trend for textbooks nowadays is that there should be visual stimulation in the form of pictures, figures or summary tables on every page. Colour and consequent stimulation is particularly prevalent in Volume 1 but reaches its nadir in Volume 2; maybe this volume should have been colour coded grey. Perhaps the Editors are against the use of summary tables and bullet points, but personally I prefer these — it benefits readers who are anxious to acquire information ‘at a glance.’ A textbook that is re‐released every 6 years is perforce out of date by the time it is published, such is the pace of advance in knowledge in cutaneous biology and to a lesser extent clinical dermatology. One instance is the use of fumaric acid for the treatment of psoriasis. The mechanism of action of this compound is stated to be an effect on calcium metabolism and keratinocyte proliferation (reference 1994). It is now known that fumaric acid works by switching cytokine profiles from TH1 to TH2 (1997). I particularly enjoyed the chapter on histopathology which provides an excellent insight into what happens to a skin biopsy once it disappears out of the outpatient theatre in a little jar of formalin. A current trend in dermatology, welcome or not, is the development of cosmetic dermatology — I would expect future editions of this textbook to embrace this area more wholeheartedly. Criticisms are few, plaudits are many, no other textbook of dermatology covers the breadth that this one does. Glancing through the index, this is exemplified by a reference to Patau syndrome juxtaposed to one to patched gene. Would I recommend this book? Of course. No self‐respecting dermatology department or dermatologist could afford not to have this book on the shelf — although the shelf may need some reinforcement. It is probable that the CD‐ROM version will engender accessibility and may be more widely used in 21st century clinics. However, the Editors and all contributors to this textbook should be congratulated on ensuring that this monument of twentieth century dermatology survives, in robust health, into the next millennium.