We learn in the foreword by John Goligher that the fifth edition of his classic Surgery of the Anus, Colon and Rectum (1984) was the final edition. It has met the needs of colorectal surgeons for most of three decades. Now, Goligher has handed the torch to Dr Corman, his assistant for a year at the University of Leeds; Goligher has chosen well. Corman's second edition amply fulfills Goligher's three criteria of a successful text: comprehensiveness, high-quality illustrations, and single authorship.
About the last point Goligher writes: "A single authorship has the great merit of presenting a uniform and more agreeable literary style. When writing on a fairly limited theme, such as disease of the colon and rectum, it ought to be possible in my opinion for one experienced and determined writer to circumscribe the whole field with adequate authority entirely by himself, with perhaps a little assistance from one