I am sure most academics, from time to time, have considered writing a monograph about their favourite subject. Enthusiasm soon wanes however with the realisation of the amount of work and when publishers introduce market related factors such as cost (around £50), authorship (ideally international), usefulness to trainees, etc. The authors of this book however went ahead to write a 300 page monograph on portal hypertension costing $150 and written exclusively by American authors, half of whom are from the same institution.

The first thing that strikes me about this book is that it is surgically orientated, which is perhaps not surprising given the authors, but what is surprising is its concentration on transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic stent shunts (TIPSS). Most …