Book excerpt: In this classic text the authors examine the links between racism, psychological ill health and inadequate treatment of ethnic minorities. Through a series of case studies they discuss: * the psychological legacy of colonialism and slavery * the racist bias in psychiatric and psychological theory * diagnostic bias * the role of religion in mental health or illness * the value of anthropological and pschoanalytic insights. The concluding chapter in this edition reviews the development of 'transcultural psychiatry' and summarises changes in administration of the Mental Health Act.