A good atlas. Not quite a comprehensive textbook though.
I like the spalton atlas a lot. The pictures are of good quality but there are a number of complaints I have. First is the size. It is very tall and unwieldy. Taller than the Yanoff book although not as wide. The text is somewhat unpredictable with significant detail on some topics but quite cursory coverage of others. I do like how the atlas specifically refers and often points out findings in the photographs. The other thing that bothers me is the atlas has no specific pediatrics section. The competition is the Wills atlas, Kanski text and Kanski atlas, Mass eye and ear atlas, Yanoff text. Overall, I would say this book offers an excellent resource for good pictures with some supplementary text. If looking for only pictures,consider "clinical diagnosis in ophthalmology" by kanski. If looking for more of a textbook, consider the other yanoff book or other kanski book. If looking for a pocket atlas, consider the mass eye and ear text. If looking for a thinner more portable atlas, albeit less comprehensive, consider the wills atlas.
Excellent atlas
As a first year ophthalmology resident, I wanted an atlas to supplement the topics presented in the BCS series. The text in BCS is quite thorough but the pictures may as well have been taken from space they way they show detail. So far, I have been very impressed with the Spalton atlas. They have tons of large, high quality pictures, but as other reviewers have stated, the biggest benefit is the cartoon drawings next to each picture with arrows and labels to point out the important features (Contrast to BCS -- they give you a picture of the entire fundus of a diabetic patient for "IRMA" and let you guess where it is). The only downsides of this book as far as I'm concerned are as mentioned by others: 1) the binding is definitely not sturdy enough for the size of the book, 2) the CD-ROM is not well organized for looking up images (i.e. the descriptions are often not correctly tied to the search engine), and 3) the price (although not much different from a lot of other similar books). Otherwise, I would give it 5/5. Still highly recommend this to any ophthalmology resident looking for a good picture atlas.
excellent textbook
The review of anatomy before each chapter and the depth and variety of conditions is excellent! Our systemic disease and their ocular manifestations professor here at UC Berkeley School of Optometry has been teaching from this text because we can learn so much from the pictures.
Outstanding atlas in a cheap binding
As with many Elsevier books, Spalton's is high quality context - and Spalton's is outstanding - but the book is bound in flimsy paper. Our copy arrived with the spine partially ripped at the joint; just resting this hefty volume on end ripped the front bottom corner of the cover. Looks great, but constructing a hardbound book with flimsy paper is a travesty.
Would have been 5 stars if it had been edited well and on non-glossy paper
Great book, but I actually like the earlier edition better. I have the latest edition, but was disappointed with the many errors in the book and on the CD that accompanies the book. The Index has numerous errors as topics are not listed on the pages stated in the index. The CD also has numerous errors as the pictures dont coincide with the chapters in the book even though they are supposed to.
And finally the photos are printed on glossy paper making the details of the photos hard to see under reading light. The older edition used non glossy paper which made the pictures much easier to see. If they fix these two problems (indexing error and paper quality) then this book will receive a 5 rating from me.
