The government's tortuous attempts to reform the Mental Health Act in England and Wales, and the recent introduction of new legislation in Scotland, has meant that mental health legislation has been hotly debated in recent years, at least in the UK. This book, with its unashamedly European perspective, adds a different dimension to that debate. It describes a study, funded by the European Union, that compares mental health legislation in 12 of the member states, in an era that has seen the introduction of community care and more specialised treatments, but also increasing rates of compulsory admissions.

Most of the book is devoted to individual chapters describing the legislation in the different states, written by many different authors whose first language is not English. There are some extensive quotes from legal judgments which can be a little hard-going. Nevertheless, the chapters provide a useful introduction for the travelling clinician. It was interesting to read that as a consequence of devolved powers, the 16 different Länder in Germany all have their own mental health law – we can be grateful, perhaps, that we only have three in the UK.

Many psychiatrists have been concerned about the British government's proposals to extend compulsory powers to detain more people with mental health problems in England and Wales. Many have advocated for various exclusions in the definition of mental disorder, including one for political and cultural beliefs. In the former German Democratic Republic, we learn that during ‘high-ranking international political events’, the political authorities would ‘advise’ hospitals to admit people who might behave in a socially disturbing way, or restrict the freedom of those already admitted.

The final two chapters are of more general interest, making comparisons between the legislatures. They note a paradigm shift where, although public safety remains an important issue, there is increasing concern for the safe and adequate treatment of people with mental illness. Most countries require a court to authorise detention, and it is perhaps unfortunate that proposals for tribunals to authorise detention of patients in England and Wales within the first few weeks of their admission were dropped by the UK government.

I would have welcomed an index and, more importantly, some discussion about the differential impact of mental health legislation in different cultural groups. In spite of this, the international psychiatrist will find this a useful companion.