Always educational, if sometimes polemical, this clearly written and entertaining book captures the various models of mental illness currently circulating in mental health. Using plain and accessible language, with a sharp and witty glossary to help, four models - disease, psychodynamic, cognitive behavioural and social - are given a fair chance from a sympathetic pen. And then, like a cold shower in the morning, painfully opening your eyes and shocking your mind into gear, Tyrer dismembers them all in a coruscating analysis of their inadequacies and excesses. He then reconstructs them pragmatically in a universal "conjugal" model. At a time when new models of community mental health are being developed throughout the world and mental health is becoming increasingly important, especially in England, anyone working in mental health or using services will find this book is a must!

Tim Kendall, National Clinical Director for Mental Health, NHS England