This is a dictionary of haematology... and they should change the name to include the word "Dictionary". I almost didn't buy it because I couldn't work out if it was a dictionary or not.
Apparently Barbara Bain is the guru of haematology. It's surprising she put out a book with so few photo's. How can you have a book on haematology without almost any pictures? Haematology is all about visual interpretations of cells! Barbara must have lots of good photo's which could be used to illustrate the descriptions NB The pictures ought to be in colour...as the few that do exist are in B&W.
There is a distinct shortage of dictionaries of haematology (I couldn't find one)... so this book fills an obvious need.
I'm now into my third book on haematology... without a good definition of many of the terms. $$$ ouch!!!
The clinical haematology atlas by Carr almost fills this niche: it has lots of pictures but doesn't explain a lot of terms.
What this book needs is more pictures, a little more attention to spelling (some typo's), a few more definitions (there are a few obvious ones missing) and a bit more detail: My haematology lecturers laughed at a few of the definitions.
The publishers (Blackwell) and Barbara provided no contact details whereby any suggestions could be made. A secretary from Blackwell eventually responded to an e-mail... but seemed bemused that a user would want to suggest improvements to a book. They haven't got back to me about this. That's surprising... as most publishers welcome user feedback... as it simplifies the process when they do the update.
Honestly it would be fairly easy to make a new edition of this book MUCH better... and I wouldn't mind paying a bit more for some nice photo's... especially if they were in colour.
Overally... it's actually quite a useful reference for anyone wanting a quick heads up in haematology... but I think almost any other company could do a better job... but nobody has. Pity.
P.S. First thing you should do when studying a new area is buy a dictionary!