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This is a well organized and clearly written account of a complex problem, important to every physician. It has been written by and for clinicians and is an expansion of material published in the New England Journal of Medicine as part of the medical progress series. Its authors have made many contributions to the subject during the last decade and are thoroughly familiar with work and the workers in various aspects of the anatomy, biochemistry, and physiology of cardiac contraction. It is a book to be carefully studied, that is, to be read and reread attentively. The 54 figures with which it is illustrated also deserve careful study, and older readers will find a magnifying glass helpful.

When so much information is packed into such concise form, the reviewer looks for omissions. Only one seems worth noting. There is no mention of the evidence for cardiac failure during attacks of