Book excerpt: In this handbook, Peer Kirsch clearly shows that this exciting field is no longer an exotic area of research. Aimed primarily at synthetic chemists wanting to gain a deeper understanding of the fascinating implications of including the highly unusual element fluorine in organic compounds, the main part of the book presents a wide range of synthetic methodologies and the experimental procedures selected undeniably show that this can be done with standard laboratory equipment. To round off, the author looks at fluorous chemistry and the applications of organofluorine compounds in liquid crystals, polymers and more besides. This long-awaited book represents an indispensable source of high quality information for everyone working in the field.