Book excerpt: Robotic Cardiac Surgery is a comprehensive guide to robotic/totally endoscopic cardiac surgery. The book is intended to provide in-depth information regarding the history of robotic surgical systems, their components and principles. It emphasizes patient selection, perioperative management, anesthesia considerations and management, operative techniques and management, postoperative care and results. Extensive, detailed photographs and illustrations of different kinds of robotic surgery are also included. It provides cardiac surgeons, cardiac anesthesiologists, and perfusionists with a comprehensive review of current robotic cardiac surgeries and related knowledge. Changqing Gao, MD, is a professor at the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.