Dr. Robinson is modestly aware that the theme of his book is as old as medicine itself. The immediate value of his work lies in the demonstration that adverse social conditions were significant in the care of 71 per cent. of 174 unselected cases in Johns Hopkins Hospital. Many of these patients were afflicted with physical disease, such as syphilis and diabetes, or had definite symptoms referred to the major body systems; others suffered from psychoneuroses. The bulk of the book consists of case histories which are superficial in psychiatric insight and depth psychology. The vast psycho-analytic clinical contributions of the psychogenesis of symptoms and disease are not considered by the author; but this is perhaps irrelevant, as his object has apparently been to point out the need for the investigation of social factors in disease. This he has done effectively and the book will undoubtedly serve to hasten the tempo of the current movement in medical care which stresses both the individual and communal aspects of illness.