The Essentials of Postgradute Psychiatry, 3rd ed

From our regular book review column.

This is the third edition of a textbook purporting to portray the "Maudsley approach" to psychiatry. The textbook was first published in 1979 with the second edition in 1985. The Maudsley is, of course, the Institute of Psychiatry and the Bethlem Royal and Maudsley Hospitals in London. It is one of the leading psychiatric research and clinical centers in the world and is important as a training site, not only for British psychiatrists but for those throughout much of the former outreaches of the British colonial empire. Because of the geographic scope of the Institute, one must take great notice of the importance and influence of this volume.