Scottish Action on Dementia had its origins in informal meetings of individuals drawn from a variety of health care professions with a shared concern about the inadequacies of provision for dementia sufferers in Scotland in the mid 1980s. At the heart of these concerns lay the absence of any effective response to two major documents – the Timbury Report and SHAPE (Scottish Hospital Authorities Plans for the Eighties). Both accorded the highest priority to care of the elderly, particularly those suffering from mental illness, and had been accepted by all the principal parties concerned as the blueprint for health care policies in Scotland in the 1980s. The sober realities of 1985 prompted the founding members of Scottish Action on Dementia (SAD) to set themselves up as a multidisciplinary forum with three principal functions – to promote public education and awareness of dementia and its implications for sufferers, families and society at large; to act as an independent pressure group; and to monitor activities in the field of dementia care with a view to promoting and maintaining high standards. Five years later these objectives remain unchanged.

The year 1991 will be emblazoned on our minds as the year of the Middle East War. Saddam Hussein gave more than a clue to his own psychopathology when he named this conflict “The Mother of All Wars”. All nations which actively participate in battle will lose troops and civilians. Physical damage, terror and distress are the immediate accompaniments of battle. Starvation, sub-standard living conditions and infectious disease often follow. Modern weapons and terrorism are capable of inflicting major damage on populations which are far away from the centre of the war.

The incoming editor Dr Norman Poole sets out a vision for his tenure at the helm of the BJPsych Bulletin. There will be redoubled focus on training and educational articles and an engagement with the cultural and social ramifications of this most vital of specialisms.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists’ antiquarian book collection originated from the library of psychiatrist Daniel Hack Tuke (1827–1895). A proposal to name the collection after him led us to investigate aspects of his life and work, particularly related to his attitudes concerning race, gender and homosexuality. We juxtaposed his ideas with those of some of his contemporaries. We cannot separate psychiatrists, past or present, from the societal and scientific context that shapes their professional understanding and standards. However, changes in language, knowledge, values and other sociocultural factors over time can affect how we perceive our forebears and how future generations of psychiatrists may perceive us.