This is the fifth edition of a paediatric textbook. While primarily directed to medical students, it has proved relevant to the needs of those who work with children, including health visitors, nurses and therapists. The new edition has been extensively rewritten in order to emphasize the most important areas of paediatrics, and the chapters related to the art of taking a clinical history, communicating with the child and the parents and, particularly, the techniques of examining a child have been considerably expanded. The book also contains entirely new sections on the newborn and on the cardiovascular system.