This book is not a major contribution for infectious disease physicians, academicians, or internists. It may be of benefit to medical students as a general introduction to infectious diseases, but the subjects are treated too superficially to be helpful with the problem patient. For example, viral hepatitis is discussed in six pages and with no mention of its high incidence in homosexuals or the new hepatitis B vaccine. The chapter on endocarditis has only seven pages, and there is very little on coagulase-negative staphylococcal infections, the use of rifampin and vancomycin hydrochloride for resistant staphylococci, or the teichoic acid antibody test in diagnosis and follow-up. The chapters on the dermatologic and hematologic manifestations of infectious disease should be eliminated in any new edition in place of a more complete treatment of the other subjects. The dermatologic chapter does not contain one picture, which we know are worth 1,000 words apiece.