The specialism in the psychiatry of learning disability is only available in the UK and most of the recent advances in the clinical care of individuals with intellectual disabilities have occurred in the UK. That is not to say that developments of great consequence have not happened elsewhere, but it is my view that we have, perhaps, one of the better alignments of health and social care, with significant research output in this domain. Leading lights in promoting the mental health needs of people with intellectual disabilities have been Nick Bouras and Geraldine Holt.

This volume is meant to summarise years of academic and clinical endeavour and collect the advances that have been achieved in practice, underpinned by the research and audit completed under Professor Bouras’ leadership.

I found the book informative and interesting. The first part was a history lesson in how our mental health service philosophy and provision has developed since de-institutionalisation to the present day. The style is flowing and discursive, which helps to attract the reader to what could otherwise be a stale litany of data.

I have only minor reservations stemming from the fact that one or two chapters do not help the central argument of the book, which is to discuss services and strategies for solving service problems and setting new directions (e.g. chapter 4 and 7). I would have liked to read more about the behavioural genetic clinic as it is one of a kind and I am aware that data based on its operation have been reported already. Finally, I was rather puzzled by the structure of chapter 8 which has lost some of its impact by discussing the training requirements for intellectual disabilities in various professions in the UK. I appreciate that this may have been included for the international readership but somehow it appeared to dilute the message of how important training is, in its wider sense, for further service maintenance and staff morale.