Since Mondor’s times in the forties of the last century there was no other book in surgery to be written so easy and witty… Boris D. Savchuk, World Journal of Surgery This, the fifth edition of Schein’s Common Sense Emergency Abdominal Surgery, builds on the reputation of the four previous editions. Already a worldwide benchmark, translated into half a dozen languages, this book guides surgeons logically through the minefields of assessment and management of acute surgical abdominal conditions. Tyro and experienced surgeons alike will benefit from the distilled wisdom contained in these pages. The direct, no-nonsense style gives clear guidance while at the same time providing amusing (or saddening) insights into our collective surgical psyche. Old chapters were revised or rewritten and new chapters have been added, including a completely new colorectal section with its new co-editor. Finally, in an attempt to ‘rejuvenate’ the book, Danny took over the helm while the aging Moshe was pushed down the line… Selected reviews and comments from readers of the previous edition — What to say, perhaps the most appropriate medical book ever written. This is written with short punchy chapters making it a very difficult book to put down. By the end I was a total enthusiast… this is a text like no other I read… Unreservedly recommended to old and young alike. A Must Have Book. I am about to end my chief year in general surgery residency — my copy of the first edition shows the wear of half a dozen total read throughs and probably hundreds of ‘referencings’... Simply perfect. The best choice in surgery for trainees! It makes the more difficult surgery areas very easy to understand. I recommend it to all surgeons. One of the best books I have read in my life! Must read for all docs out there. But the moral of the book is that if scientific rigorousness (protocols, guidelines, evidence-based) and common sense are at odds, follow common sense.