This volume is an established and comprehensive account of the physiology of the heart and peripheral vessels. This new edition incorporates several changes and additions; in particular, there have been rapid advances made in the understanding of the active nature and roles of the endothelium, and this has resulted in the addition of a new chapter on endothelial cell biology. Many other areas have been updated, e.g. response of heart cells to ischaemia; role of integrins; myogenic mechanisms and the mechanisms underlying many other vascular contractile responses. New figures have been added and references updated. Finally, in reaction to the recent GMC-induced changes in medical education, a problem-based element has been incorporated in the book. This book should be of interest to medical students, physiology students and candidates for the MRCP, FRCA and MRCS/AFRCS.