Dr. López. from the department of pathologic surgery in the University of Valladolid, Spain, has written an excellent monograph on the history of craniectomy. Beginning with trephining as the first form of cranial operation, the author discusses the slow growth of knowledge of neurosurgery in the preColumbian era, among the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and Arabians and in medieval, renaissance and modern times. Three chapters are devoted to the contributions from Spain during the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. The book is fully documented on the Spanish literature of this period. Modern times, however, are not neglected, for the story is carried through to the period of Harvey Cushing and his associates. The text is well written and the chapters are skillfully organized. There are numerous plates, one in color, and many reproductions of title pages of important books, pictures of pathologic specimens and instruments. The format is good. This monograph,