66 Book Review /Forensic Sri. ht. 65 (1994) 65-66

Forensic Medicine by Laszlo Buris. Springer-Hungarica Ltd, Budapest, 1993 (us$100.00) ISBN 963-7922-77-6

One of the most obvious and welcome indicators of the remarkable recent changes in Central and Eastern Europe is the vastly improved quality of textbooks, and this new one from Hungary is a shining example. Apart from the excellent contents, the appearance of the book equals and even surpasses many established texts from Western publishers. It is printed on line glossy paper and the quality of the many colour photographs is superb. Though published by a ‘joint venture’ between the German firm Springer-Verlag and the University of Debrecen, the book was pro- duced entirely within Hungary. That country has excellent printing facilities and colour reproduction second to none, all of which combine to make this book a pleasure to hold and read.

The author is Professor Laszlo Buris, Director of the Institute of Forensic Medi- cine at the University of Debrecen in eastern Hungary; he is also President of the Hungarian Society of Forensic Medicine. Professor Buris uses his 34 years of prac- tical and academic experience in forensic medicine to write a clear and detailed account of theoretical and practical aspects of the speciality, covering traumatology, thanatology, paternity, disability evaluation, toxicology and those other aspects of legal medicine contained within the broad spectrum of continental European legal medicine.

As to the contents, this is a virtually word-perfect English translation of the Hungarian version of the book. It is intended primarily for forensic pathologists in training, but is also directed at general pathologists, clinicians of all specialities, lawyers and police. Though rather advanced for undergraduate medical students, there is much in the text that would benefit them. It is of moderate size, with 400 pages and 200 diagrams and photographs, mostly in full colour. The list of contents follows a conventional pattern for most forensic textbooks, but the topics are covered with clarity and thoroughness, greatly aided by the excellent illustrations, drawings and tables. The text is right up to date and is fully and accurately refer- enced. For centuries, Hungary has had excellent forensic medicine - the August 1993 Congress of the Hungarian Society of Forensic Medicine, presided over in Szeged by Professor Buris himself, had as its theme the 200th anniversary of the teaching of legal medicine in Hungary.

Even during the communist regime, Hungarians were still in forensic communica- tion with the rest of the world, and Hungary was often the only Eastern bloc country to attend international congresses. It is now gratifying to see them participate fully on the European and international forensic scene - and this excellent book is solid proof of their ability to now compete on equal terms with their more westerly colleagues - and indeed, to easily outshine some of them.

Prof. Bernard Knight University of Wales College of Medicine

Institute of Pathology Cardiff Royal Infirmary

Cardiff CF2 lSZ, UK

SSDl 0379-0738(93)01143-U