Book excerpt: Volume 1 of a series of books intended to help students of medicine, veterinary science, dentistry and biomedical science interpret the latest findings in haematology, provide a backdrop for future advances and provide more focused and in-depth reading for those wishing to follow a laboratory or clinically-based career. Each of the contributions is written by an authority in the field and is information rather than reference rich, providing an up-to-date resume of the latest advances in the subject and a focus for further reading.