Travel medicine. 2nd ed. Jay S Keystone, Phyllis E Kozarsky, David O Freedman, et al, editors. Philadelphia: Mosby, 2008 (xiii + 611 pp). ISBN 978 0 323 03453 1.

This is a great book and worth the $215 asking price. It is a comprehensive tome for clinicians new to travel medicine, as well as having much to offer those with more advanced knowledge. It would be a useful tool for those studying for the International Society of Travel Medicine Certificate of Knowledge Examination.

The book is well written, with up-to-date and practical discussions. The list of authors is a “who’s who” of the luminaries of travel medicine, each writing about their area of expertise. It is well laid-out and easy to read, with good use of colour, flow charts, tables, figures and photos. Boxes highlighting key points at the start of each chapter are a useful aid for the time-poor. The book comes with a searchable CD-ROM, although the book’s index and table of contents are so good that the CD-ROM seems almost superfluous.

The scope of the discipline is well covered — from different travellers (eg, expatriate workers, people with disabilities, older people, pregnant women, and children) to different diseases (including extensive discussion of traveller’s diarrhoea) and health precautions (eg, vaccines, malaria medication, water purification); from pretravel to post-travel, different types of trips (eg, cruises, international adoption, medical tourism), along with psychological and environmental aspects of travel health care.

A small component of the information is only relevant to readers in the United States, such as details about insurance companies and paying for visits. American spelling is used. There are a few minor omissions (such as the option of Quantiferon screening for tuberculosis). This does not detract from the excellence of the book. At 640 pages, it takes a bit of reading but the reader is well rewarded.