Sir Gustav Nossal writes in his dedication to this unique book that it "will appeal to students, to concerned parents, to decisionmakers in the health field and to a wide lay readership". Gordon Ada and David Issacs have recognised that there has been a lamentable gap in the availability of a comprehensive and accessible form of something that explains and interprets vaccination. The book begins by giving primer-level instruction in infectious disease and the ontogeny of vaccines and

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... leading into the modern vaccines in use and their mechanism of action. This is all presented in a way that is readily accessible to an educated lay reader, but at the same time is of sufficient technical detail for the health professional or student. Issues of vaccine safety and the concerns that surround adverse effects of vaccines are also dealt with in an up-to-date and comprehensive way. Recent data that attempts to understand better how parents make decisions about whether to vaccinate their children are reviewed and the context and influence of the anti-immunisation lobby is explored. The second half of the book deals with new approaches to vaccine development and vaccine delivery. In particular, the modern challenges of vaccines against HIV, malaria and chlamydia are explained. Finally, the book takes a broader view of how the vaccination approach as a form of immunotherapy is being exploited in relation to its potential for control of all auto-immune diseases, cancer and human fertility. Together, Ada, as one of Australia's most widely recognised and accomplished biomedical scientists in the field of immunology, and Issacs, as a clinical immunologist and paediatrician, are well equipped to bring together and integrate brilliantly data from the wide range of diverse fields of biomedical and social science that have an impact on vaccination. This is a book that should be part of every medical student's primary textbook library. In addition, every general practitioner should use this as both an informative basis for their day-to-day work and as a reference. The price of being comprehensive is that the book is probably somewhat too long to sell to a mass audience; unfortunately, it is unlikely to be the blockbuster it deserves to be! Nevertheless, many interested and concerned parents will find value in the areas addressed in this book, and it should help them in their decision-making around vaccination of their own children.