To fmds one’s bearings through the luxuriant forest of organic chemistry, sure guide marks are needed. Robert Martin’s book is one of these most useful reference marks for each organic chemist. Diversely substituted hydroxyacetophenones are used in numerous sectors of applied organic chemistry. This impressive monography constitutes a considerable work, time-saver for the professional in organic synthesis. For each compound described, R. Martin has clearly and concisely supplied all the information existing in the literature up to 1996. This work enables the chemist to compare their structures, syntheses, properties, physico-chemical characteristics, thus stimulating his imagination. Three exhaustive tables enable the reader to find each compound by its CAS number, official nomenclature and usual name. They secure easy navigation through this large Dictionary. I very much admire the work undertaken and carried through by R. Martin, Chemical Engineer, Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers, 1961. I am sure this book will be helpful both to industry and university research workers, and I wish it will meet the success it deserves. Dr. Jean-Paul GUETTE Professor Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers (CNAM) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my heartily thanks to Dr. Pierre Demerseman who accepted me in his Laboratory at Institut Curie in 1987, and kindly revised my manuscript I am also grateful to Dr. J.-P. Buisson, always so amiable and efficient, whose knowledge of word-processing largely contributed to the fmal page-setting of this work.