The International Handbook of Alcohol Dependence and Problems

Editors, Nick Heather, Timothy J. Peters, and Tim Stockwell
Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

There is a vast literature on alcohol problems and alcohol dependence, but The International Handbook of Alcohol Dependence and Problems is unique in setting out a comprehensive survey of the whole field of alcohol studies "from neurochemistry to sociology and from research on the molecular basis of dependence to large-scale studies of the primary prevention of alcohol problems". The editors are Nick Heather, Professor of Alcohol and Other Drug Studies at the University of Northumbria, Timothy J. Peters, Head of the Department of Clinical Biochemistry at King's College, University of London, and Tim Stockwell, Director of the national Drug Research Institute, Curtin University, Western Australia. All are distinguished scholars in the field and contribute important chapters to the Handbook. Their stated intention is "to provide, for the first time in a single volume, a complete source of information and reference for all major aspects of alcohol studies and all contributory disciplines – in short, alcohol studies from A to Z".

Of course, to chronicle the subject comprehensively would require more than the 900 pages of this volume, and the editors make no claim to have covered every aspect. What they do succeed in doing is bringing together a wide spectrum of opinion and expertise. In a subject which inspires such strong feelings and often polarised attitudes, this is no mean achievement. Proponents of particular theories or practitioners in arcane by-ways may well find glaring omissions, but anyone who needs a general reference work will welcome the publication of the Handbook and find it an invaluable tool whether they be research workers or engaged in the front line of alcohol problems.

The contributors, most of them internationally recognised experts on the topics they present, were asked to produce "authoritative, science-based reviews of knowledge in their areas of special interest". This is not a book where you will find new, peer-reviewed research. It is essentially an exposition of the present position in their respective areas. The intended readership includes all those with an academic, research, clinical, counselling, or policy-orientated interest in alcohol-dependence and problems. The principle advantage of the handbook will be to increase communication between scientists and practitioners from the wide range of disciplines and professions that make up the world of alcohol studies. The list set out by the editors emphasises the width of that range: physicians, psychiatrists, GPs, ward, practice, and community nurses, occupational therapists, psychopharmacologists, biochemists, academic, clinical, and forensic psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, social workers, probation officers, counsellors of all sorts, health economists, health care commissioners, and policy makers. "The failure of communication between combinations of these groups," say the editors, identifying a major problem, "is often deplored and we hope that the book can assist in remedying this situation by giving readers an insight into areas of knowledge that might not otherwise come to their attention". It will also be useful to those teaching in medical schools where the subject has, at least in the past, been cursorily treated.

There are helpful synopses at the beginning of each chapter for those to whom the specific subject is not their field of speciality. Clinical pathology, for example, may be something of a mystery to those of us involved in policy or therapy, but a synopsis in accessible language gives an insight and useful information. Similarly, not all physicians treating alcohol-related diseases may require a detailed account of preventive policy, but they do need to know what are the main initiatives going forward.

The editors have wisely rejected any attempt to impose a standard terminology on authors. Within their contributions the writers are the arbiters of these things – cujus regio, ejus religio. One author uses the term "alcoholism", another "alcohol dependence". Still others prefer "problem drinking" or "alcohol abuse". The editors do make the point that, in the title of the book and the Part headings, it is implicit that they accept "the now commonly-held view that alcohol dependence and alcohol problems, while often empirically correlated on the individual level, are conceptually independent dimensions of alcohol-related harm".

There is no doubt that this book will prove invaluable to everyone in the extensive variety of specialities covered in the different chapters and to anyone else involved in the complex field of alcohol dependence and problems.

Andrew Varley.