It is a great pleasure to review a book by my former co-editor, (Daws and Boston, 1977). This is especially so as this new book, of which Dilys Daws is the sole author, is such an impressive volume. Its title perhaps does not altogether do justice to the wide scope of the book. I was expecting a practical manual on sleep disturbance, based on the author's long experience of “standing next to the weighing scales” in a general practice clinic, but this expectation quickly gave way to the realisation that this is, in addition, a scholarly and informative book. It makes a substantial contribution towards integrating research from a number of different fields: clinical, child development