Book excerpt: By way of its clear and logical structure, as well as abundant highresolution illustrations, this is a systematic survey of the players and pathways that control genome function in the mammalian cell nucleus. As such, this handbook and reference ties together recently gained knowledge from a variety of scientific disciplines and approaches, dissecting all major genomic events: transcription, replication, repair, recombination and chromosome segregation. A special emphasis is put on transcriptional control, including genome-wide interactions and non-coding RNAs, chromatin structure, epigenetics and nuclear organization. With its focus on fundamental mechanisms and the associated biomolecules, this will remain essential reading for years to come.