Parveen Khilnani and an impressive authorship from across India and the USA have set out to produce a text emphasising the practical aspects of paediatric intensive care. It is described in the preface as the “first comprehensive Indian textbook on pediatric intensive care”. Have Khilnani and his colleagues succeeded and will the book reach out to a wider European and North American audience? I read on with interest.

Using a systems approach the book is divided into 12 sections. In keeping with the title the first section is basic practical issues. …