Brain, Vol. 124, No. 6, 1253-1254,
June 2001
© 2001 Oxford University Press
Book reviews |
Intractable Focal Epilepsy.
By John Oxbury, Charles Polkey and Michael Duchowny. 2000. Sidcup: Harcourt Publishers. Price £125. Pp. 878. ISBN 0-70202-428-7
Department of Neurology, Atkinson Morleys Hospital, London, UK
There is a steadily increasing number of textbooks within the field of clinical epilepsy, with authors and editors pursuing a variety of themes with variable emphases, from the focused and concise to the almost overwhelmingly comprehensive. To justify their existence, new works need to have a special theme or direction. This volume selects the field of focal intractable epilepsy and strongly emphasizes a surgical approach.
The text is presented as a single volume, a moderately heavy one at nearly 900 pages. The three editors come from three distinct centres, two in the UK and one in the USA, freeing the book of any special bias; all are long-established and will need no introduction even to neurologists with only a passing interest in epilepsy. The editors have selected 80 co-authors (approximately a quarter are North American) and again, most names are very familiar, with a few welcome newcomers.
On initially opening