This Shorter Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry succeeds The Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry, third edition (1996). It continues in the tradition of providing clear, comprehensive and practical coverage of clinical psychiatry specifically tailored to the needs of trainees, as well as providing a useful reference work for psychiatrists in practice and general practitioners. This new edition has been extensively revised and updated with the help of a team of expert advisors. The revision pays particular attention to the considerable advances in knowledge derived from the field of neuroscience, as well as emphasizing an evidence-based approach to practice and attention to ethical issues. In addition, there are new chapters on somatoform and dissociative disorders, neuropsychiatry and sleep disorders and eating disorders. The text and layout have been redesigned with greater use of illustrations, tables, lists and summary boxes, and the comprehensive reference section has been brought right up to date. 'This is a well-written textbook with a pragmatic orientation toward practice, chock-full of hard-to-find clinical tidbits. Overall, Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry is a sound textbook for clinical psychiatrists. Its strength lies in its historical underpinnings and the different perspectives from standard US viewpoints'. - Journal of the American Medical Association. 'It will undoubtedly be useful to the trainee psychiatrist early in his or her career and later during revision for professional examinations. It will also be read with profit by all medical practitioners who are interested in keeping their knowledge of mental illness and its management up to date'. -The Lancet. 'A crisply written, compact, consistent and thoughtful introduction to the field'. - New England Journal of Medicine. 'The Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry is one of the best examples of the genre. The layout is clear and it is comprehensive without being obscure. Most importantly it is fluent. If I were about to sit postgraduate examinations in psychiatry, I would choose this book'. - British Journal of Psychiatry.