Britain has a lengthy and mixed history in the world of toxicology; some industrial and community diseases due to toxic substances have occurred and were first recognised here from the 1st century AD onwards, and our scientists have made seminal contributions to the basic understanding of toxicology. Is this major work to be the epitaph of our achievements, as academic and industrial pressures relentlessly diminish our base of working toxicologists, or is it a further pointer to our understanding of the knowledge and practice of a subject of growing public importance? And, being the second edition of a justifiably successful monograph, how well have advances been included and presentation improved?

The new preface points out the considerable extent of the new material in the book, recognising the speed of progress …