Tara Berger, University of Newcastle

This book definitely makes immunology seem less frightening. It is clear and accessible and it starts right at the beginning with the basic principles of immunology. The diagrams generally makes those tricky concepts seem slightly more straightforward and there are nice touches, such as the boxes that discuss the research behind current immunological thinking. This is not a heavyweight textbook, but I feel much more comfortable with immunology than ever before; the content is more than sufficient for undergraduate medicine. The clinical focus could be sharper; there was the occasional missing detail here, but the background is completely solid. This book is perfect for getting you feeling confident enough to say you've tackled immunology!

Posted 14th Apr 2010

Latifa Patel, University of Liverpool

Honestly speaking – immunology has never been my strong point. It is one of those topics that I want to cover tomorrow. But when I wake up in the morning it is always today hence tomorrow never comes. This book is comparable to the size of the books in the master medicine series. It is immaculately put together and easy reading has been made priority. With the full use of a bright rainbow, coloured tables, flow diagrams, radiographs, high coloured images and very easy to follow pictures illustrating the text. This breaks up the reading into manageable chunks – they must have known immunology was not my thing. With regards to content it runs from basic essential anatomy, cellular mechanisms and responses, immunological disease in the particular to different systems (namely rheumatology, hepatology, endocrinology, and gastroenterology) as well as the general immunological diseases. It is another one of those books where you’ll also be able to revise your clinical medicine. The book also goes into depth with immunisations and other immune based therapies. So it may be a bit too much detail for the course you’re doing but most medical textbooks aren’t read cover to cover. One last perk are these different coloured boxes titled, science, summary or clinical box – they give you snippets of added information that is useful to know as well as interesting. These may appear in your EMQ examinations – definitely worth a look. Enjoy, Latifa (",)

Posted 18th Mar 2010

Kayte McCann, University of East Anglia

Again, echoing everyone else's comments, immunology to me is the medical foreign language. I may have covered it in a past BSc, but it still means very little. This book is colourful, engaging and explains difficult concepts really well. It explains the medical circumstances around the immunology rather than just cascades and complicated names that leave your short term memory far too quickly. I think this book is going to be a strong PBL book, as well as a good companion to Kumar and Clarke/Davidson's/Medicine and Surgery* (*whichever medical 'bible' you prefer). And one last point, this book has the most useful Appendices I have ever come across. It doesn't take for granted that you must know every immunology abbreviation in the world, it just explains them all clearly in nice table forms that are amazing for revision.

Posted 18th Mar 2010

Sarah Edwards, Peninsula Medical School

I would have to agree with some of the other comments, that immunology is a mystery! This book is nicely laid out with some nice diagrams which make it look pretty. . It is very much a superficial text and possibly won't give the detail needed in the early years of medicine. It has some clinical elements throughout the book, however I feel its not clinical enough. Possibly this maybe because I'm almost at the end of my undergraduate career and reading this book I don't see how I can apply this clinically. In summary a good book for a superficial overview.

Posted 13th Mar 2010

Rae Captieux, The University of Edinburgh

For most of us immunology is a black spot in our medical knowledge. Cytokine names pepper most general medicine text books...with no explanation of their actions, and their clinical relevance. Having done a BSc in Immunology I had to learn immunology the hard way...using books where i had to spend hours deciphering a sentence before i could understand the concept. I did all my learning from lecture notes, because i couldn't find a book that suited me. Using this book now, i can see how it would be ideal for an immunology BSc student, as well as a preclinical medical student! The diagrams are spot on, and explain the text clearly and comprehensively. While this boook is quite detailed...it really is the only way to get your head round immunology once and for all. I definitely rate this book highly, and havent found one negative aspect yet.

Posted 12th Mar 2010

Adam Moreton, University of Liverpool

Great for the intercalator. Great for the non-PBL medic. Great for any medic interested in a speciality with an immunological basis (Transplantation, Rheumatology, HIV/AIDS, Endocrine). If you don't fall into one of the above then this book, by virtue of its detail and size (although not that big), probably isn't for you - Try BASIC IMMUNOLOGY by ABBAS instead. Full of lots great photos, images, drawings, diagrams to support the text - it makes Immunology easier to get to get a grasp on. As someone with a particular interest in Rheumatology, I found that chapter particularly good and comprehensive. A great text for those who want a bit more detail, but not really the best choice for only a superficial overview.

Posted 10th Mar 2010

Dominic Haigh, University of Birmingham

In the preface to the first edition, the authors tell us that the impetus of the text was a general sense of confusion amongst doctors when it comes to immunology. In fact, one went so far as to call it 'the invention of the devil'. I can see where this position comes from. Immunology, when compared to established sciences such as anatomy or physiology, is in infancy. To understand complex anatomical terms, it is often sufficient to understand a modicum of Greek and Latin. The meaning of long, intimidating words such as otorhinolaryngology becomes clear when you consider that it is merely a compound of shorter stems. In immunology, such reasoning is not possible. When a muscle was discovered, it could be named according to its attachments or shape, and its function was almost immediately evident. When new proteins are discovered on the surface of cells it is not possible to say what they do before lots of further study, and even then, our understanding is constantly evolving. The difficult with immunology is that proteins have seemingly arbitrary names made up of letters and numbers that do not provide information about function. It is not possible to calculate that IL-6 promotes TH17 differentation in conjunction with TGF-beta. The fact must be learned, and even then, there must be some expectation that new evidence may present itself in the not-too-distant future to revise this theory. The nature of immunology makes it all the more important that what we do know and why is laid out as plainly as possible. The fascinating nature of the complicated way in which we have evolved to combat both foreign organisms invading our bodies and the cells of our own bodies turning against us is explained in the prose throughout the book. An essential addition to this is a rather forbidding-looking series of appendices, laying out easily digested information on clusters of determination, major cytokines, class II human leukocyte antigen alleles and abbreviations used for amino acids for the purpose of quick reference. The main body of the text is devoted to a clinically-focused explanation of immunology in a logical order: explanation of innate and acquired immunity before dealing with manifestations of immunological disease. One helpful touch is the use of symbols denoting the same cells and receptors throughout the book in a constant manner. I find much to recommend in this textbook both for beginners and for clinicians wishing to revise immunology and catch up with the progress of this rapidly-developing science.

Posted 25th Jan 2010