The aim of this book is set out explicitly in the introduction, where several points are made to explain its content and design. Most importantly, it deals just with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and not the whole spectrum of paediatric rheumatological conditions, although it correlates and integrates this wider group of conditions with all those involving joint symptoms.

The authors point out that, contrary to the view that such conditions are rare in childhood, as a group they are one of the commonest serious chronic conditions in children; the conditions are complex, under-taught …