Book excerpt: Ablative tumor surgery of the head and neck region often results in severe cosmetic and functional deformities. In these cases, microvascular free-tissue transfer enables three-dimensional reconstruction of head and neck defects. The selection of adequate donor tissue and a profound knowledge of the human anatomy and the various harvesting techniques are paramount in ensuring successful reconstruction. Reflecting current surgical approaches, this book presents the most frequently used flaps in head and neck surgery, including detailed overviews as well as their respective pearls and pitfalls. Moreover, each section contains a synopsis and pre-operative checklist. The overlay-technique merges high-quality-photographs with drawings and precisely illustrates the step-to-step descriptions of the different flap harvesting techniques, making this manual in pocket size an unique and accessible reference for both doctors in training and specialists in the field of otolaryngology, head and neck, plastic, maxillofacial and skull base surgery.