These two volumes of Surgical Ophthalmology represent the fruits of a long standing cooperation among a number of experts in the various subspecialties of ophthalmology. The editors have attempted to harmonize the individual contribu tions. The illustrations are of a more or less uniform character and present in di dactic sketches the individual steps of the most important operations. This should be of benefit not only for the neophyte, but also for the expert. The text has in a similary way been integrated so that the whole work, though written by a number of contributors, presents an organic unit and not a patchwork of different parts. In addition, this work is a monument to the spirit of German-American collab oration. The two German editors have since the end of WWII stressed the advan tages of such collaborative efforts. They have established close personal contacts with many American ophthalmologists. They have participated in and contributed to many American congresses, meetings and symposia. The American editor, on the other hand, as a product of the Viennese school, has always stressed the im portant contributions by German-speaking ophthalmologists and the value of the German literature.