Book excerpt: A working knowledge of the basic sciences that underpin mechanisms of disease and the body’s response is widely recognised to be a critical part of urological training. This book is aimed at trainees to ensure they are up to date with this breadth of knowledge and it provides succinct summaries which are ideal for revising the basic sciences component of final assessments and examinations. The chapters cover anatomy and physiology, the basic principles of immunology and oncology and particular diseases. It is a compendium of "need to know" facts and is aimed at both FRCS (Urol) candidates and a wider gloabl surgical audience looking for an up to date summary.