This comprehensive, yet concise, book describes the basic surgical techniques required of junior trainees across the breadth of surgical specialties. It consists of 14 chapters, beginning with theatre conduct, instrument handling and suturing, before providing detailed descriptions of the elementary skills required to handle blood vessels, bowel and bone. It finishes by offering advice on preventing and managing unwanted complications such as bleeding and infection. The author’s formal style is clear yet entertaining, while the content is contemporary with modern surgical practice. The author also delves into some of the basic techniques required for each of the surgical specialties, expanding the audience for which the book is appropriate and making it an ideal accompanying text for students undertaking the Basic Surgical Skills course. The book also bridges the gap between surgical pathology texts and true operative scripts and is ideal for medical students, foundation doctors and core surgical trainees. I certainly would have benefited from reading this text prior to beginning my surgical training. The prose is supplemented with frequent illustrations that assist in the understanding of the complex practical procedures described. All images are in colour and provide a step-by-step pictorial guide to each of the surgical techniques. Overall, this is an exceptionally well-written book that appropriately meets the needs of its target audience in a concise manner. I would recommend this book to surgical trainees and it has certainly met the author’s aims.