Book excerpt: This unique ground-breaking work, authored by renowned Harvard-based researchers G I Papakostas and M Fava, represents, by far, the most comprehensive compilation to date of medical studies and reports involving the use of antidepressants for the treatment of major depressive disorder, one of the most prevalent and devastating medical illnesses afflicting mankind today. Given the breadth of the scientific literature focusing on the use of antidepressants for major depressive disorder, this work represents an invaluable tool for clinicians as well as scientists in search of a reference manual to help guide them through the field. The book is organized into four parts; each part focusing on a separate theme that will facilitate the reader to precisely access particular information of interest, whether be it clinical or scientific in nature. Each part is then sub-divided into several thematic chapters, which are enriched with tables and figures citing results from the most influential studies in the field. Finally, clinical and research “pearls” are listed throughout the book in bullet-point fashion to help summarize the available knowledge-base in a user-friendly format.