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Bruce James, Anthony Bron and Manoj V. Parulekar
Published by Wiley Blackwell
13th Edition (Published April 2024)
ISBN 978-1-119-90597-4
Price £30.95
Don’t be put off by the thinness of this book, although it is only 252 pages including the index, it packs in a lot of information. Similar to other siblings in the excellent Lecture Notes series from this publisher, the topics examined are concise, understandable and probably all you need to know to become quickly updated on a topic. Clearly, it is not in-depth in its coverage but covers the topics well enough for a good general understanding. I would suggest this is very suitable for medical students, GPs, junior ophthalmology staff, specialist nurses, and other associated staff. If you need more depth to your knowledge needs, then check out the useful references on page 235. These list books, journals, websites, and organisations, which is a handy resource.
It is clearly written and well-illustrated, focuses very well on the basics, and is easy to understand. Each chapter ends with a key points box and assessment questions, with the answers supplied handily adjacent to the questions. The colour illustrations are pin-sharp, and the text is nicely broken up. The tables and illustrations also richly add to the flow of the text, which covers topics in a logical order.
Considering its slim size, the book packs in a lot of information and covers the common and some less common scenarios in a readable format. Complex concepts are well explained and a good example of this can be found on Page 180. Eye movement and gazing positions can be difficult to understand and the excellent two figures and table on this page go a good distance to explain these concepts.
The book’s purchase price includes an online digital companion. This companion contains figures from the book and self-assessment questions but not the full text, which is available from the publisher’s website via the URL above at an additional but reasonable price.
The writing style is clear and very understandable, demystifying the specialty. I decided to read up on the basics of Visual Acuities. On Page 37, there is an excellent paragraph that nearly sums up the topic.
Best of all, the book is keenly priced, and despite its modest size, it packs in a lot. It represents very good value for money and will appeal to a wide audience.
