In the 1970s, an important change of emphasis had occurred in the field of alcoholism. Instead of seeing alcoholism as an 'all or none phenomenon' it was now recognised that a continuum of alcohol problems existed so that individual cases could show different degrees of dependence and different degrees of harm.

Originally published in 1979, this book examines the implications of this change of emphasis. It looks at definitional, aetiological, epidemiological and socio-cultural questions and contains contributions from acknowledged experts in all of these areas. The scientific evidence in each area is fully reviewed and made comprehensible to the non-specialist reader and similarities between trends in thinking in different fields are emphasised.

In addition, the book analyses the implications of the modern view of alcohol problems in terms of their theoretical basis and their practical application. A rational and pragmatic approach to the problems of working with alcoholics is analysed in some detail so that the links between new ideas and their manifestation in clinical practice are made clear.

At the time, this book represented a multi-disciplinary approach to a complex problem where previous thinking had been clouded by too ready acceptance of untested hypotheses.