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Families of the Slums: An Exploration of Their Structure and Treatment. By S. Minuchin, MD; B. Montalvo, MA; B. G. Gurney, Jr., PhD; B. L. Rosman, PhD; and F. Schermer, PhD. Price, $10. Pp 480. Basic Books, Inc., Publishers, 404 Park Ave S, New York 10016, 1967.

"The childhood shows the man, As morning shows the day." John Milton (Paradise Regained, book 4, line 220)

The poet's words are readily evoked by two recent books that look critically at the children of urban slum families. They study the ways in which poverty, emotional deprivation, and psychological disorder are interrelated and affect ability to learn and function within the subculture of poverty itself as well as in the middle-class society where inevitably a living must be earned. Both books focus on disorders of childhood and youth, yet they carry far-reaching implications for the entire practice of medicine. Not only do they