Book excerpt: Experts in the fields of prostate cancer, renal cancer, testicular cancer, benign prostatic hyperplasia, male erectile dysfunction, urological trauma, reconstructive urology, male infertility, paediatric urology, bladder cancer, female incontinence, urinary infections, stone disease and reconstructive urinary diversion have each chosen ten papers which they consider to be classics in their respective domains. Every paper is carefully described and evaluated by its strengths, its weaknesses and its contribution to the field. Papers have been chosen that define new diseases or treatments, that have changed our whole way of thinking, or that have simply stood the test of time to be as important now as they were when first published. The papers described in this volume will stimulate debate, encourage readers to seek out the original texts, and inspire the writers of the classics of the twenty-first century.