The Joint Commission on Mental Illness and Health, under the leadership of Drs. Kenneth Appel, Leo Bartemeier, and Jack Ewalt, comprised thirty-six organizations interested in one aspect or another of the problems of mental illness and what to do about it. The purpose, in the words of the Mental Health Study Act of 1955, was to provide 'an objective, thorough, and nationwide analysis of the human and economic problems of mental illness' and the development of '… recommendations for [the] better utilization of resources'. The funds (over $1,500,000) were provided almost entirely by Congress. The present volume presents the final report of the Commission and a comprehensive and authoritative report it is. In addition, six monographs have been published and four more are in preparation, written by experts and dealing in detail with such matters as the Economics of Mental Illness, Mental Health Manpower Trends, Community Resources, The Churches and Mental Health, and New Perspectives on Mental Patient-Care, to name only a few. The principal points made in these volumes are given in the final report.