Book excerpt: This fourth volume in the Handbook of Stress series, Stress: Genetics, Epigenetics and Genomics, deals with the influence that genetics, epigenetics, and genomics have on the effects of and responses to stress. Chapters refer to epigenetic mechanisms that involve DNA methylation, histone modification, and/or noncoding RNA-associated gene activation or silencing. There is also coverage of epigenetic mechanisms in stress-related transgenerational transmission of characteristics, and how these may help explain heritability in some complex human diseases.The Handbook of Stress series, comprised of self-contained volumes that each focus on a specific stress area, covers the significant advances made since the publication of Elsevier’s Encyclopedia of Stress (2000 and 2007). Volume 4 is ideal for graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, faculty and clinicians interested in stress genetics, epigenetics and genomics involved in neuroendocrinology, neuroscience, biomedicine, endocrinology, psychology, psychiatry and the social sciences Articles carefully selected by eminent stress researchers and prepared by contributors representing outstanding scholarship in the field, with each chapter fully vetted for reliable expert knowledge Richly illustrated with explanatory figures and tables Each chapter includes a boxed “Key points call out section Affordably priced, self-contained volume for readers specifically interested in stress genetics and epigenetics, removing the need to purchase the whole Handbook series