Book review

Article Outline

• Copyright

I approached this book with a degree of trepidation – as I was uncertain how effectively such a wide-ranging topic could be condensed into a single slim volume. The editors, Donald Peebles and Leslie Myatt, are to be commended for their efforts. Firstly, they recruited internationally recognised authors at a time when, it is highlighted in the preface, academic institutions do not recognise such contributions. At least one of the co-authors of every chapter is a leading authority on their subject. Secondly, the editors have ensured a consistency of style and approach. The result is a polished text: throughout the book, scientific content is of the highest calibre. The clinical implications of inflammation in pregnancy are manifold, and I would have preferred a greater emphasis on these; with a few exceptions, such as the quite excellent chapter on maternal inflammatory conditions, the book will be of greater interest to scientists than to practicing clinicians. That criticism apart, I would wholeheartedly recommend this text, as both a comprehensive and a concise treatise on the complex relationship between inflammation and pregnancy.