Recent advances in immunology bearing on human diseases have been introduced to a limited degree into current clinical textbooks. For more extensive consideration of one or another facet of these diseases, one has had to resort to special review articles, monographs, or symposia. The editors are, therefore, to be commended for bringing such vast amounts of information into one text. There are 75 contributors, most of whom are well-known experts in their field.
The text is divided into two sections. In the first, there is brief coverage of the general principles of immunology. These include the mechanisms of immunization, the structure of antibodies, the complement system and immunologic unresponsiveness (tolerance). This is followed by a discussion of pathogenic immune mechanisms such as anaphylaxis, cell and tissue damage through antigen-antibody complexes (Arthur phenomenon, serum sickness), and delayed hypersensitivity. The rest of this section deals with selected experimental immune diseases in which