The authors of this text have sought to provide a handbook in which they present the core clinical knowledge on epilepsy while aiming to be comprehensive and up to date. Chapters cover the usual topics from epidemiology through to surgical treatment and this slim volume certainly packs in a huge amount of information. The reading lists are very useful with statistical information and data from up to date studies. Inevitably a book whose text is made up almost entirely of bullet points proves very difficult to read, and this format does not allow enough space for critical appraisal of the reference studies which the reader will hopefully be prompted to look up. The authors practical approach to managing epilepsy is useful and I would have liked to have seen more of this. Anticonvulsant drugs are listed with standard accounts of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic data. Most readers would have been interested in a discussion of the relative merits of the newer anticonvulsant drugs and the quality of evidence supporting their use in comparison with the older drugs.

This is an excellent little handbook well suited as an introductory reference text for the authors stated target audience of residents in training and general physicians.