Book excerpt: This volume is a complete manual of operative techniques for battling a severe liver injury. It provides an easy pre-operative and intra-operative reference with clear illustrations, line drawings as well as actual intra-operative color pictures, supplemented by online video segments. The early sections of the book deal with the fundamentals of surgical anatomy and critical maneuvers in the resuscitation of the patient in extremis. The various technical maneuvers for manual control of hemorrhage, debridement-resection as well as formal lobectomy of the liver, the identification of biliary tract injuries and other miscellaneous techniques, such as balloon tamponade of missile tracts, are discussed in complete detail. The book also sketches the role of liver transplantation surgeons in the acute trauma setting. The final chapters focus on the urgent problem of teaching operative techniques to young trauma surgeons in an era of dwindling surgical experience. Written by authors who are world- renowned experts in trauma management, often termed “master-surgeons”, Operative Techniques for Severe Liver Injury is required preparation for all surgeons who are likely to face a massive crush injury of the liver.