References, to the reader, are like insulin to the diabetic: when needed they are indispensable, but in excess they induce coma. Moreover, when references are simply shovelled into a text in great gobbets, it is hard to resist the suspicion that the author has not read them all, but has copied some from a previous author's list. The story is told of one author who mischievously included in his list a bogus reference to an obscure foreign journal, and gleefully noted its frequent appearance in future articles. One of the joys of this present book is that the number of references to each topic is very small. But these few have been selected with dis cretion and studied with care. Each group of references is followed by a critical assessment, written with balanced judgment and commendable brevity, and how refreshing it is to find authors who read much but write little. In fact, these authors have followed the pattern of the sister work, Selected References in Orthopaedic Trauma, published in 1989."

The Oxford Textbook of Trauma and Orthopaedics second edition provides comprehensive coverage of the relevant background science, theory, practice, decision-making skills and operative techniques required to provide modern orthopaedic and trauma care. The text is divided into five major sections covering fundamental science, adult orthopaedics, trauma, paediatric orthopaedics, and paediatric trauma, including a major subsection on tumours.