recognised handbooks for engineers in the filds of planning, design, manufacture and operation. The great interest and wide acclaim according the German edition of this handbook by industry in 1972 confirm the traditional aims of the Allianz in placing loss prevention in technical plants in the foreground of their service to clients. The English edition of the handbook under review here enables this valuable engineering know-how to be made available at international level, with the object of preventing losses by the exchange of ideas and experience. The literature references have been taken over from the German edition in unchanged form, in order to bring to the atten­ tion of English-speaking experts a bibliography, which is little known outside Germany.