Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (also known as M.E) is an illness characterized by the symptom of chronic and severe fatigue, in the absence of an alternative medical condition. It has been the subject of intense media debate over recent years. Such interest has been partially due to the polarization of professional and scientific opinion concerning the topic - what is it, and what causes it? Chonic Fatigue and its syndromes presents an objective and comprehensive review of the problem of chronic fatigue, mixing medical, psychological, social, and historical perspectives. It begins by considering the nature of fatigue, and its physical and psychological origins. The book then introduces the subject of CFS, tracing its historical origins, before considering the epidemiology, and the various aetiological theories for modern forms of the condition - viral, immunological, psychologica, psychiatric, and neurological. The book concludes with a clinical section that gives a step by step guide to the assessment and treatment of CFS. Throughout, the authors argue that chronic fatigue and its various syndromes cannot easily be pigeonholed into either physical or psychological categories, and that the ambiguous nature of the illness actually provides us with a valuable chance to explore contemporary attitutes to sickness and health, one not offered by better defined or classified disorders.

Introduction 1. The nature of fatigue 2. Epidemiology of fatigue 3. Physical mechanisms of fatigue 4. Fatigue and emotional disorders 5. Neurasthenia 6. Chronic fatigue syndrome 7. Chronic fatigue syndrome: definition, epidemiology, presentation, prognosis 8. Muscle and nerve 9. Viruses, immunity, and CFS 10. Chronic fatigue syndrome and psychiatric disorders 11. The neurobiology of CFS 12. The role of psychological factors in CFS 13. CFS in children 14. Other fatigue syndromes 15. Chronic fatigue syndrome: A social history of twentieth century illness 16. Chronic fatigue syndrome: Assessment 17. Treatment of CFS: The evidence 18. The treatment of the patient with CFS 19. Conclusions

Simon Wessely , Professor, Academic Department of Psychological Medicine, Matthew Hotopf , Senior Lecturer, both at Guy's, King's and St Thomas' Medical School and Institute of Psychiatry, London, Michael Sharpe , Senior Lecturer in Psychological Medicine, University of Edinburgh, and Honorary Consultant to the Royal Infirmary and Western General Hospital Trust of Edinburgh

`I think it is one of the most remarkable texts that I have read on any subject. The knowledge and the industry are beyond belief... This is unquestionable the most authoritative, the most extensively researched and the most detailed account of fatigue in general and the CFS in particular that has ever been published. The authors are to be congratulated on providing an extremely well balanced text which is a tribute to their extensive scientific knowledge and their widespread experience of CFS.' Sir Richard Bayliss