Henry J. Jackson and Patrick D. McGorry (Eds). Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Paperback: 444 pages, £40 (US$80). ISBN-13: 978-0-5216-1731-4.

Ten years after the publication of the pioneering text ‘The Recognition and Management of Early Psychosis: A Preventive Approach’ edited by McGorry and Jackson comes a revised edition. Unlike other areas of clinical psychiatry where progress has been slow over the last 10 years, much has changed in the understanding and interest in early psychosis resulting in a second edition that is vastly different from the first. So much has changed in fact that every chapter is completely new, demonstrating the huge growth in interest and research into early intervention and prevention of psychosis over recent years. This growth is documented clearly in the first table of the book which describes a 48-fold increase in the number of articles returned in the authors' literature search for the first edition compared to the second.

In line with the expansion of research into understanding of how early preventive treatment may influence the illness trajectory of psychosis, the number of sections in the book has doubled from four to eight. Within these sections are contained thorough discussion and review of research into early markers of psychosis; access to specialised services and treatment programmes and the models used; co-morbidity and risk during first episodes; and interventions specifically tailored to support recovery from first episode psychosis.

Although the book provides a comprehensive summary of current knowledge around risk and vulnerability to psychosis, the focus of this book is on service delivery and clinical approaches for best managing early psychosis. For example, in his chapter on initial assessment and treatment, Martin Lambert outlines for the clinician a series of goals to work towards during the first 3 months of the acute phase psychosis. Jean Addington and colleagues then go on in the next chapter to examine both full and incomplete recovery from the first episode psychosis. The discussion of the latter is particularly useful as it describes a stagedapproach to investigating factors that may be inhibiting recovery.

When the first edition of this book was published it was heralded as one of the first to focus on the topic of early psychosis and propose an alternative, more hopeful prognosis for people with psychosis who received interventions during their first episodes or earlier. Now, it is more widely believed that people who experience psychosis are not condemned to the Kraeplinian view of chronic deterioration in their mental health and the evidence to support this is presented comprehensively in this important second edition. This book serves as an important tool for clinicians working with psychosis and a valuable resource for researchers.