Monica McGoldrick, godmother of genograms, has triumphed again with this third edition of her classic text. Genograms are simple, pictorial representations of relationships and networks used to elicit information and track stressors and resources. Perhaps their most effective application, however, is being able to detect patterns of relationships and functioning. There are many lively illustrations of this in the book, but the most memorable is the genogram depicting patterns of conservatism and wildness in the British Royal Family.

It isn't only royalty who are used to illustrate key principles. In parts, this book is like a Who's Who of namedropper families. Theories and practical application are explained with colourful genograms of the great, the good and those gossiped about – the rich family dynamics of the Brontës, the Jungs, the Eriksons and the Fondas are offered as scaffolding for learning. Through the genograms of Mia Farrow, Bill Clinton and Louis Armstrong, McGoldrick and co-authors track family patterns through space and time. It is compelling reading and the text is peppered with pertinent questions to ask families and practical therapeutic skills.

Since the first edition was published in 1985, systemic thinking has evolved, as has family life and composition. The text has been updated for the 21st century. Readers accustomed to McGoldrick's authority, insight and compassion will not be disappointed. The inside front cover has familiar looking symbols for male and female, but there are also those less familiar for pets, immigration, secret affairs and transgender. Other societal structures including socio-economic status, sexual orientation, ethnicity and spirituality are given as much thought as kinship relationships.

Genograms are predominantly used by family therapists; however, in this book McGoldrick and colleagues do much to broaden their appeal. General adult psychiatrists will be interested in the practical applications of community genograms. Similarly, genograms mapping relationships with work colleagues have broad appeal, from junior doctors struggling to manage inevitable multidisciplinary rivalries and tensions to managers introducing organisational change.

Frida Kahlo painted her own family genogram and the reproduction in these pages means this book would not be out of placeon your coffee table. There are few scholarly books that entertain, delight and educate in equal measures. This is one of them.