Ever since I began my training in internaI medicine and subsequently in neurology, I have been interested in subarachnoid haemorrhage and indeed chose this topic as a subject of study for my Doctorate in Medicine. It was because the information derived from a retrospective study of 312 patients proved to be so interesting that I published a monograph on the subject 30 years ago. My first reaction on reading this splendid book by my former coHeagues in Newcastle, Mr. Sengupta and Dr. McAllister, was one of realisation of the extent to whjch knowledge about the condition' and principles of...