This is almost a very good book. If the contents had a little more accurately reflected the title, we would have had a fitting tribute to one of the leaders of Indian psychiatry in the second half of the 20th century. I know of Professor Wig, but it was only on careful reading of the 25 chapters that I was reminded (or learned) of his very substantial achievements: his contribution to outcome studies in schizophrenia; his work on acute and transient psychosis; his coining of the term ‘Dhat syndrome’; his promotion of the delivery of psychiatric services through primary health care; his leadership in developing the National Mental Health Programme in India; and so on. Glimpses of the man appear in chapters such as those written by Ahmad Molit and David Goldberg but the one-page biographical sketch does not do him justice. A more detailed assessment of his contribution to Indian and international psychiatry would have been welcome.

But there are some nuggets of historical information buried deep in the text: the first lunatic asylum was opened in Madras (now Chennai) in 1794, but it was only in 1905 that psychiatry was recognised as a speciality in India. At the time of independence in 1947, although there were several hundred million Indians, there were only 17 mental hospitals with 8425 beds. Then, as now, as this book emphasises again and again, almost all care of the mentally ill in India was provided by the extended family. However, as Murthy and Ghosh point out, how long this will last remains to be seen, with increasing urbanisation, increasing numbers of nuclear and single-parent families, and the increasing influence of the mass media in shaping the aspirations of young people and family life.