It is difficult to find the moment when the idea for a book is first born. For this book, the basic concept was probably born during conversations I had in Parma, Italy, with Dr. Riccardi of the University of Naples and Dr. Jenkins of the University of Toronto (Canada). Later, in a conference room at the University of Verona (Italy) School of Medicine, I had a day-long meeting with Drs. Bosello and Cominacini of the University of Verona, and Drs. Jenkins and Riccardi and their co-workers. After an intense working day, the general plan of this book was completed. The title Mediterranean diets rather than diet was appropriately cho- sen as there is more than one Mediterranean diet, a point discussed in chapter 1. This chapter focuses on the definition of a Mediterranean diet and no matter what the reader's interest may be, it is imperative that this first chapter be carefully read. We should always remember that there are-from a preventive medi- cine point of view-good and poor Mediterranean diets. The best exam- ple is probably the difference between the high olive oil, high carbohy- drate, low meat diet of southern Italy and the high saturated fat, higher meat diets of the northern Italians. Prevalence of disease parallels these differences. Chapter 2 covers some ancient history in an easy-to-read manner that is instructional as well as fascinating even for the nonmedical scientist or the nonhistorian.