The editors' purpose was to put together in a readable volume, authoritative information on immunology and allergy, with a major emphasis on the practical application of basic information. For a busy practitioner, the first portion of the book provides a series of short state-of-the-art chapters on the development of immunity, immunodeficiency states, and autoimmune disorders. Although the section is fairly well done, in a field moving as rapidly as immunology it is difficult for current material to be included and many of the important modern concepts have been omitted, such as the role of cyclic nucleotides in lymphoid differentiation, subpopulations such as T helper and T suppressor cell, T- and B-cell distributions in peripheral blood lymphocytes and surface markers.
The major portion of the text concerns allergic disease; however, insufficient emphasis is given to the controversial nature of the concepts presented. Thus, bacterial vaccines are recommended and one gets the