This book is clearly aimed at anaesthetists preparing to sit the FRCA examination. Any doubt regarding this is quickly dispelled by the two chapters that follow the introduction: “About the FRCA Examination” and “The Pre-Operative Assessment”. Hardly surprising, therefore, that it is of limited relevance to emergency medicine.

Each of the book’s seven main chapters begins with a general introduction to set the scene and introduce underlying concepts, before moving on to a series of realistic “case illustrations”, in question and answer format, accompanied by an explanation and additional background information. This is a clear and effective …