This is a practitioner's book. It is an illustrated guide rather than a textbook, and it will be of immense value in the medico-legal world. How I wish that it had been available during my 40 years of grappling with claims for negligence for back injuries both at the Bar and on the Bench. It would have saved many hours of searching for suitable background information and explanation on an area of the body which is complex and often produces problems that are so difficult to define and nail down that they produce differing expert opinions.

The paramount virtue of this book is that the text is expressed with a clarity which makes it easy to read and readily understandable. Of particular help are the many analogies, which are drawn between anatomical technicalities and movements, situations and incidents, which are part of everyday life. To clarify matters even further, there are abundant illustrations and drawings to augment the text and these help the reader to visualise the problems facing the court. It will be of great assistance to the busy lawyer, especially those who come into a case at a very late stage and have to prepare it under the pressure of time. I suspect that it will be of equal value to orthopaedic and neurosurgeons who are building up their medico-legal experience.

The authors are eminently qualified to produce a book of this kind, as they have added their combined extensive medico-legal experience to their already impressive academic records.