This book represents a mammoth undertaking—to write one textbook on the entire gastrointestinal tract, liver, biliary tree, and pancreas—and to cover it in a shade over 1000 pages is indeed a commendable feat. Such a task, of necessity, requires multiple authors and 59 contributors were responsible for this offering. Despite this, there is not much variation in style or quality, and the editors have done a sterling job in weaving it all together somewhat seamlessly.

I found the book easy to read, comprehensive, up to date, and with very few gaps. I am mindful that a single all embracing text does not rival specialist books (such as those on the liver) in terms of detail, but this book does not do too badly! The style is crisp and to the point, the colour illustrations are lavish, and the content is excellent. These are supplemented by pertinent tables and flow diagrams. The index of a book is a good place to gauge the content and layout. The index of this book is user friendly and comprehensive.

Although showing a decided North American bias in its authorship, this book transcends any artifical geographical boundaries. In my opinion, this book is the best “one stop shop” on gastrointestinal tract, liver, and pancreas pathology. Buy the book and do yourself a favour: read it!