Since the dawn of the era of molecular biology, hemoglobin has been subjected to more scrutiny than any other protein, and Bunn, Forget, and Ranney can each lay claim to major contributions to the saga of hemoglobin. Their well-organized, comprehensive, and superbly illustrated work is an excellent review of the abnormal hemoglobin field. Early chapters deal with the structure and function of human hemoglobin and the way in which this is modified in various disease states. Later sections deal with the various structural hemoglobin variants and their associated clinical manifestations, the thalassaemias, and the acquired disorders of hemoglobin. The sections that deal with the modification of hemoglobin function in various disease states are particularly good. The book contains an extensive and up-to-date bibliography and is remarkably free from errors of fact or type--the best standard of reference on the subject as of the year 1977.