Book excerpt: This textbook is an introduction and guide to undergraduate surgery. It has been a bestseller since its first edition in 2001.The philosophy of this book is to focus on the level of knowledge and the approach that would be expected of the better students reaching the end of their undergraduate training. Avoiding a book that is too cumbersome, we have tried to make this volume readable and enjoyable, using various techniques to help the reader remember key facts: the text has been deliberately written in a tutorial-like story format as opposed to a set of lists, since this makes it easier to understand and remember.In addition to general surgery, the book contains sections on trauma, orthopaedics, urology and ENT, making it the only comprehensive textbook for medical students wishing to learn top tips in surgery.Subjects that are poorly covered in other main texts — such as fluid balance management and minor surgical procedures — are dealt with in a tutorial fashion in this book, and there is a section on how to problem-solve even in the context of areas unknown to the student.This book is useful for medical students and also for junior doctors during their day-to-day working lives, as well as those coming up to postgraduate exams.Each chapter is written by an authoritative author, alongside the book editors, and they have ensured it remains in the spirit of the bestselling previous editions.