My first impression of this solid, 1000-plus page book was a good one. Well bound, good quality paper, full colour and wrapped up in the familiar Thieme blue-silver motif. Being named ‘Total’, one would assume it is a book that is competing with the famous reference texts, such as Scott-Brown's, Cummings' and so on. Then you consider how small it is compared to these much-loved works. The next thought would be that this must be an exam revision book? The preface makes the case that consultants wishing to stay informed in topics outside of their chosen subspecialty can use this book to brush up their knowledge.

It certainly does provide the standard facts one would expect, and the authors seem to have managed to condense a lot of topics into a relatively small volume. The consequence of this, however, is that certain compromises have needed to be made. If you were to compare this text to reference texts, one can immediately see that the depth of information just isn't achievable. The authors have been diligent to make the prose as concise as possible, but a focus on management isn't maintained on every topic. This is especially true of the paucity of surgical steps described, which, inevitably, means that this work is more a clinical than a surgical text book. The limitation on space also means that nuances in management cannot be described in detail; the broad facts are provided, rather than useful tips one would see in, for example, Graham and Bull's Paediatric ENT book. I would suggest this text to be more akin to looking something up on Wikipedia, and I think this is the point of this publication. It can be used as a quick reference book, for those who prefer not to ‘Google it’. I would suggest that this is a reasonable book for exam revision as well. Granted, it is bigger than your standard revision text, but it is more manageable to plough through than a reference text. The prose doesn't contain references for the evidence for each statement; hence, it isn't completely appropriate to use it for viva examinations, but it would be acceptable for written examinations.

This has been a difficult book to review, as it sits in a rather narrow gap in the market. There is very little to compare it to, and my observations have been necessarily based on comparisons which aren't altogether adequate. My advice therefore is to ignore what I have said, pick up the book yourself and flick through it!