Professor Prins is well known for his writing in the area of the care and management of mentally disordered people who come into contact with the criminal justice system. His work is not simply from a practitioner's viewpoint, but encompasses a wider perspective based on years of experience and academic endeavour. Offenders, Deviants or Patients? was first published in 1980. The subtitle of the first edition was ‘An Introduction to the Study of Socioforensic Problems’ and that, despite the intervening years, is what it very effectively continues to be.

Whether because of the immediately identifiable subject area of its title, or the fact that it is so accessible, this book is probably the first that many coming to the study of the criminological aspects of mental abnormality will read.

The subject matter covered is so diverse (but of no less value for that) that it is difficult to know where to start. And that is arguably the book's greatest strength. Given that it touches on everything from administrative aspects of dealing with offender patients and specific types of crime to the ‘crystal ball’ of risk assessment, the book offers a great deal to a potentially very large readership. It has changed, with the field, over the years. The format of this edition is different, and the order and naming of chapters have been revised. Matters pertaining to the law reflect current developments, and new sections discuss stalking, offender profiling and dangerous and severe personality disorder. The references and suggestions for further reading have been extensively updated and reinforced. In chapter 9, which considers literature as a source of insight into human behaviour, Professor Prins even acknowledges the personal comments of Harriet Walter and Anthony Sher, who played the principal roles in Gregory Doran's acclaimed version of Macbeth for the Royal Shakespeare Company's Winter Season for the Millennium, on his observations.

Medical students or trainees in psychiatry, with an early interest in the possibility of a career in the forensic field, are likely to find this book particularly stimulating, especially when read in conjunction with the other major texts. Practitioners from other clinical and non-clinical disciplines, working with the individuals and groups described, are equally likely to find important original and source material. With no disrespect whatsoever to the author, in my judgement this book is also likely to be of interest to members of the general public, a reason in itself why its content should be familiar to professionals.