This is a serious piece of work. At 900 pages and almost 5 kg it is, without a shadow of doubt, the most complete review and analysis of the medical aspects of boxing ever written. Delve into almost any part and realise that there is a lot more to boxing than two blokes punching the living daylights out of each other. For example, have you ever pondered why woodpeckers are not punch drunk or why a boxer can be felled by a blow to the stomach or chest just as easily as to the head? The answers lie somewhere within the pages of this monumental tome.

In boxing medicine, Friedrich Unterharnscheidt is well known. As a US board-certified neurologist and neuropathologist, he has spent his whole professional life studying this area. His unique background also provides him with an exceptional ability to integrate the European and US literature …