The journal has now reached its one hundredth volume. In the first issue of the British Journal of Haematology (Vol. 1, No. 1, January 1955), which began as a small crown quarto quarterly, the editor, J. V. Dacie (now Sir John), wrote: ‘The launching of yet another medical journal is not a project to be lightly undertaken’. He went on to comment ‘even those with an interest more or less restricted to one particular aspect of medicine find it possible to read only a small proportion of the papers dealing with their own specialty’. After the passage of over 40 years it would be difficult to disagree with those sentiments. Professor Dacie's stated aim was to bring together papers on haematological topics in a readily accessible form, for the benefit of all with an interest in the physiology, biochemistry and pathology of blood and blood-forming organs. From the very first volume this was indeed achieved through the inclusion of articles which were wide-ranging in scope and which emanated both from the United Kingdom and overseas. More recently this global perspective has been consolidated with the publication of over 400 peer-reviewed papers each year, the majority of which are submitted from outwith the U.K., and the journal now appears every 3 weeks, with about 4000 double-column A4 pages per year. The enormous progress which has been made in our knowledge and understanding of haemopoiesis, haemostasis, and the pathogenesis of blood disorders, as well as in their management, since the first volume of the British Journal of Haematology was published can be readily appreciated by reference to its contents. During the 1950s great insights into the physiology of haemostasis were gained, thus paving the way for improved diagnosis and management of the haemophilias. Much of this work was described in the pages of the British Journal of Haematology, including Rosemary Biggs' and colleagues' report on the assay of antihaemophilic globulin activity, and that of Ethel Bidwell on the purification of bovine antihaemophilic globulin, both published in the first issue. About a third of the articles in the first volume were devoted to the area of haemostasis. The common anaemias were also the subject of considerable research activity, with important papers on megaloblastic anaemia, vitamin B12 absorption and chromium red cell labelling regularly appearing in the pages of the journal. In contrast, only a small proportion of papers in the early issues were in the field of haematological malignancies. Treatment of leukaemia, for example, was still rudimentary and unsuccessful. In the opening paper of the first issue of the journal, by F. G. J. Hayhoe and Sir Lionel Whitby, contemporary thoughts on the management of acute leukaemia in adults were expounded by experts in the field. Remission induction by transfusion of blood was discussed, and the administration of arsenic, nitrogen mustards, and the more recently developed folic acid antagonists and 6-mercaptopurine described. The stemming of haemorrhage in subjects with leukaemia by transfusion of fresh platelet-rich blood from polycythaemic donors or by infusion of a chloroform extract of acetone-washed brain was commended. The authors reported on 50 patients with acute leukaemia and an average survival of 4.5 months from diagnosis. Such detailed clinical reports have underpinned the staggering advances in diagnostic and therapeutic strategies which are testament to the energy and perseverence of scientists and clinicians over the ensuing decades. Many of these advances have been reported in the pages of the British Journal of Haematology. Indeed, one of the most widely cited papers on haematological malignancy was published in our journal, that by Bennett et al (1976) relating to the French–American–British classification of acute leukaemias. Some early observations are examples of great foresight. Thus, in Vol. 1, No. 2, G. R. Fearnley and Rita Lackner elegantly demonstrated that blood fibrinolytic activity is a physiological phenomenon and went on to postulate that the demonstrated fibrinolytic response to physical exercise might be relevant to the contemporary observations of J. N. Morris. Morris had reported on the relationships between sedentary occupations and risk of coronary thrombosis in a seminal article published in the Lancet in 1953. In the third issue of the British Journal of Haematology C. Merksey and Elizabeth Scholtz emphasized the major effect of reagent choice on coagulation times on plasma from subjects receiving anticoagulant therapy, a point which perhaps still receives too little attention in relation to therapy with heparin. In the same article it was recorded that the financial cost of the use of one particular heparin preparation was prohibitively expensive, a situation all too familiar in relation to current practice in haematology. Professor Dacie's second point, relating to the potential for factual overload, it self-evidently even more pertinent today. An essential function of a specialist journal should be to assist the reader in this regard by presenting scientific and clinical information in a manner which promotes ease of assimilation. High-quality reviews, annotations and guidelines, prepared by international experts, serve this purpose well, and it is our aim to retain the recent emphasis on their publication, but also, through a rigorous peer-review process, to select original papers which add significantly to the international literature relating to our speciality. The achievements of Blackwell Science and our printers the Alden Group in the development of electronic publishing have also had a very significant impact on the speed of publication. In these various ways we hope to continue to fulfill the aims of the British Journal of Haematology as stated by Professor Dacie. In so doing we recognize the enormous contributions made by authors, referees and associate editors to the success of the journal and appreciate the benefits of our close affiliations with both the British Society for Haematology and the European Haematology Association. This is an appropriate moment to record the achievement of the journal's production assistant at Blackwell Science. Mr John Short was trained by Professor Dacie to follow his meticulous editing, and he has served the succeeding eleven editors with efficiency and good humour, but he will be retiring shortly. One hundred volumes of the British Journal of Haematology will stand as a silent testimony to his life's work.