Book excerpt: This newest volume in the impressive New Comprehensive Biochemistry series presents up-to-date discussions of six types of hydrolytic enzyme that are well characterized structurally: aspartic-, cysteins-, and serine-proteinases, carboxypeptidase A, pancreatic ribonuclease A, and the phosphomonoesterases. The emphasis is on molecular mechanisms deduced by crystallographic, kinetic, spectroscopic and molecular genetic studies. The chapters on the various types of proteinases are complemented by others on proteinase inhibitors and intracellular proteolysis. This book will prove valuable to researchers in general biochemistry, particularly those with interest in enzyme mechanism and protein chemistry, and to Honours and Postgraduate students.