The purpose of this book is to provide reviews of various antibiotic topics which will be of interest to practising clinicians and to microbiologists. It is hoped that enough references have been provided to enable the enthusiast to immerse himself in the source literature. No attempt has been made to cover the whole field, which is well catered for in the numerous works on the subject. Rather, the intention has been to select a number of topics in which there has been a great deal of change in recent years, and to ask an appropriate authority to review the subject. Since I chose the topics, it may be supposed, quite correctly, that I have identified subjects in which I felt myself to require some postgraduate education. The process was something like the well known radio programme in which a castaway is allowed to select a number of gramophone records to take with him to a desert island. I hope that readers will share my interest in the contributions from a number of distinguished contributors to the field of antibiotic chemotherapeutic research. Although I have had the privilege of editing this volume it will be understood that the views expressed by the authors are their own and have not been the subject of editorial review. I am grateful to all the collaborators in this volume, and to the publishers, MTP Press, for their help, and for asking me to undertake the task. R. N.