'As indicated by the authors of this slim, but immensely readable tome, the turn of the twentieth century is a propitious time to consider the history of cardiology in the young. As they also indicate, the decade of the 1990s marks the 50th anniversary of the beginning of surgery for children's heart disease. This thread, the importance of cardiac surgery and its link to diagnostic pediatric cardiology, runs throughout the book. I enjoyed reading this book, and I recommend it to all who are concerned with the field. It should be compulsory reading for all who intend to practise as pediatric cardiologists or pediatric cardiac surgeons.' Robert H. Anderson, Cardiology in the Young