Reviewers of multi-author texts often mention the difficulty of distilling a coherent whole from the offerings of a diverse bunch of contributors who write in differing styles, with varying degrees of eloquence, and have an annoying habit of contradicting each other. The readers of these texts, who on opening the book for the first time think they have at last found a single volume which will cut through the whims of academic fashion and give a sensible clinically relevant overview, are often disappointed after reading the book. They may be left with a residue of mild irritation directed towards those who describe themselves as “editors” on the book's cover, and yet appear to have done little or no editing.

One might have thought that by now the editors of multi-author texts would avoid the common pitfalls of older volumes. But I am afraid to report that several of the classic mistakes are here on display in this book. The book does not quite deliver on its promise to “inform clinicians and healthcare workers and patients and carers, about key aspects of a disease…” . A good promise, especially for a book on the neuropsychiatry of Parkinson's disease on which so many unnecessarily confusing papers have been written. But what sort of clinician (or patient or carer for that matter), is going to be interested in a table detailing the Talairach co-ordinates for 18 different specific brain regions. This is academic research, important (possibly) but of little clinical relevance right now. Turning to the next chapter, on functional neuroimaging, I was hoping for an explanation as to the role of SPECT imaging in the investigation of suspected Parkinson's disease, which is, in my view at least, a question of some real clinical relevance. But sadly the topic was glossed over in a few lines, and there was little guidance for patients or doctors as to when functional imaging might be indicated.

Different parts of the book are written to differing levels of detail. Do we need to be told “the diagnosis of depression is made on the basis of history taking and mental state examination”? (page 67, Chapter 5). Surely if we are erudite enough to enjoy the comparison of Talairach co-ordinates we don't need to be patronised by statements like that! Chapters 10 on depression and 18 on drug treatment, cover antidepressant therapy only superficially and neglect to discuss the side effects likely in people with Parkinson's disease.

The three chapters covering cognitive impairment, although not bad, could have been clearer and I thought might have been better combined into one. Explaining the essence of the relationship between Lewy Body Dementia, Parkinson's Disease Dementia and Alzheimer's disease needs a bit of editorial oversight and direction, to pull together the available evidence and produce a summary which makes sense to clinicians.

I dislike texts where the treatments are dealt with in a different chapter from the discussion of clinical features, assessment and diagnosis. In this book the problem is made worse as drug and surgical treatments are covered in different chapters. Why in this type of book is the section on treatment always tiny in comparison to the detail given to basic science? The authors must have seen and treated many patients with these disorders, and we as clinicians would like to learn from their experience. We need more than vague statements such as “patients should be educated about adverse effects…” or “dose reduction may be required” (Chapter 18). There may be no scientific evidence to guide us but isn't this why there's still a need for expert opinion? What do the authors finds work well? How fast can you reduce the dose of L-dopa, for example, and what alternatives might you use?

There is a fair bit of duplication. The content of Chapter 6 “Clinical assessment: mood and motivation” is replicated almost entirely in Chapters 10, 11, 12 which go through specific mood and motivational disorders in turn. Some chapters, though, are pitched at just the right level. Chapter 13, on impulse control disorders, is a very useful introduction to a subject psychiatrists should know more about. Chapter 19 (surgical treatment) is excellent too, and covers outcomes of treatment well. Chapter 23, on the on-off phenomenon, isn't bad. The section on sleep disturbances was well-written and thorough, and covered treatments in adequate detail.

To sum up, the book is over-detailed in the some places and where we could do with a bit of detail it is too concise. Whilst being a factually accurate and reasonable overview of an important subject, with some excellent individual chapters, it is not a book which will inspire clinicians. If you’re a neuroscientist, psychiatrist or neurologist and want a summary of the basic science of the neuropsychiatry of Parkinson's disease, this book will have the information you want. But if you’re a clinician looking for concise descriptions of complex clinical issues, and advice about the treatment of common disorders, you may be disappointed.

I can understand how tedious it must be to edit a multi-author reference book, but this book illustrates how important the editors’ task is.