Dr. Rosenthal and Dr. Raab correctly place urinary cytology in the backwater of the field, noting the difficulties many of us encounter when assessing urinary specimens or washes of the urinary tract. For a variety of reasons, these specimens are saved for the end of the day, cause the most trouble and frustration, and are the least successful from the standpoint of the pathologist, the urologist, or the patient. This book represents, in keeping with the philosophy behind the series, Essentials in Cytopathology, a systematic description of - croscopic findings in urinary specimens, whether normal, reactive, or neoplastic, accompanied by an extensive collection of photo- crographs (in color) illustrative of the full range of lesions. Drawing upon their personal collections and the diagnostic resources of s- eral major cytologic laboratories, they have assembled examples of the common diagnostic entities in the field plus an assortment of confounding circumstances, which contribute to the difficulties presented by urinary specimens. Handy tables accompany the p- tographs, offering help where needed. This is particularly relevant because the subtlety of urinary cytology de?es the dependable - agnostic categorization obtained with samples from other sites.