Craig Donellan is an editor well-known to students of A-level Religious Studies who are following any ethics course. This volume is a collection of material from other sources, attractively presented and illustrated, with a number of eye-catching articles. Closer inspection reveals some very interesting and often undebated aspects of the issue, such as what doctors think ('Till Death Us Do Part?') and how nurses feel ('The Quality of Death'). Certainly a number of the articles will be ones to which students and teachers have had no access.

The volume is split into three chapters - the moral dilemma, the medical debate, and living wills. Each comprises a number of related articles, which actually overlap in chapters one and two, so are not as exclusive as the Contents page suggests. These try to give a whole range of aspects, and anyone reading the volume will feel more enlightened. The intention is to make people think, and to suggest ways in which to learn more about the various stances, once these have been demonstrated briefly. Do not expect to be shepherded through the issue as textbooks often do, nor expect to become a specialist on the subject. This volume sets out to do neither.

The article on religious attitudes is disappointing - too many groups, too few details on each. Every major Christian group has published material on euthanasia; this would have been welcome.

The language level of the articles varies, reflecting the many sources in terms of specialised vocabulary and style. This will put off most students below A-level, and teachers in schools will have to be very selective in using articles from it. A few useful addresses are included at the end, where the Christian Medical Fellowship is erroneously called 'Federation'. Students should have been directed to send an SAE when requesting information.

Overall, a useful book to have on a library shelf, but I do wonder how much use students will make of it, given its difficult language (putting off GCSE candidates) but lack of depth (putting off A-level candidates). Perhaps it needs to be in the hands of teachers.

Reviewed by
Lesley Parry
(Head of Religious Education, Bedford High School, Leigh)