Fiona Randall and R S Downie, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1999, 305 pages, £21.95 (pb).

The main purpose of a book review is to convey to the reader the essence of the book's content, thereby facilitating an assessment of its relevance for specific interests. Book titles alone are usually inadequate and/or misleading and sub-titles are used to be more informative. In this case, the subtitle, A companion for all specialties, is not only relevant but incredibly important. Without it, the book might easily be ignored by those who neither work nor have a special interest in palliative care, and more particularly in the care of dying patients. The target readership for this book is very much wider than that. The authors, one a consultant in palliative medicine and the other a professor of moral …