Surgery of the Anus, Rectum and Colon

Ed Michael R B Keighley Norman S Williams Saunders, £ 280, pp 2448 ISBN 0-7020-1278-5 Colorectal surgery has blossomed. A hybrid, uniting the old proctologists, particularly in the United States, with the abdominal general surgeons to produce a new specialty, with societies, national and international meetings, specialist journals - and textbooks. And what textbooks. These two volumes weigh in at the sumo end of the scale - 16 lbs (7.26 kg), like a Christmas turkey, although better tasted sober. Big books, well referenced, authoritative; yet individual, human, and fallible. There is always this choice to be made: a limited authorship, consistent, tight, …