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The Scope of Epidemiological Psychiatry . Edited by P. Williams, G. Wilkinson and K. Rawnsley. (Pp. 536; illustrated; £38.00.) Routledge: London. 1989.

This excellent volume of essays on epidemiological psychiatry honours the scientific career of Professor Michael Shepherd. In-depth review chapters reflect his rich contributions to the emerging science of his discipline, also known as psychological medicine. As such, this book represents a timely tribute to decades of international leadership by Professor Shepherd. Colleagues and former students who contributed the chapters have spent their careers investigating issues, many of which were stimulated by his early and ongoing work. They, in turn, offer a research agenda for the future. The Scope of Epidemiological Psychiatry will serve as a comprehensive text for the new investigator and an excellent reference for the seasoned mental health epidemiologist. The book is organized into five major sections: scientific principles, epidemiological studies of mental disorder, evaluation of psychiatric interventions and the international perspective, with a final section reviewing the contribution of Michael Shepherd. While these broad topics are presented in considerable depth in chapters in their respective sections, an unusual advantage is that most of the authors gave some attention to the five broad section topics as they pertain to their specific topics. Thus, most chapters address, to some extent, historical factors, methodological issues, disorder-specific studies, and services research along with a reference to Professor Shepherd's contribution. Presenting general principles and issues with specific applications gives the reader many opportunities to integrate theory with research findings. The inclusion of a separate section on the international perspective was almost unnecessary, since most authors demonstrated an awareness of related work in other countries in part a function of Professor Shepherd's having brought investigators together, either through World Health Organization auspices or by his own professional contacts. However, for the isolated instances where the international literature was not incorporated, this latter section serves an important purpose. For example, the chapter by Jenkins and Clare on Women and Mental Illness does not cite the findings from the US Epidemiology Catchment Area studies of comparable rates of mental illness among males and females influenced by inclusion of substance abuse disorders in the community surveys. However, the chapter by Regier on NIMH references these studies so that a careful reader could seek out this result. A second feature of this book is that the authors devote large sections of chapters to detailed descriptions of selected studies, in contrast to presenting a superficial review of a larger number of studies. This allows the reader to grasp the rationale, methods and findings of pivotal studies and, in a very practical sense, leads one to understand the background for the research questions and the logic to enquire about them. In a relatively new field of research, model studies offer building blocks as well as stepping stones to further research. For example, Ian Falloon's chapter on Behavioural Approaches in the Family Management of Schizophrenia provides exquisite detail about his successful Los Angeles study and current work in the Buckingham area of south-east England. However, the section on specific treatment approaches, where this chapter is located, fails to address in any detail the research on other innovative community-based services for schizophrenics, particularly day hospital programmes, rehabilitation services, case management and supervised housing (see Bellack, 1984). Despite the preceding limitation, selection was necessary to prevent a lengthy book from becoming multiple volumes.