Of course national languages will retain theirsignificance, and it is important and sensible todevelop and foster them (such as the German andEnglish editions of Angewandte Chemie), as other-wise words could literally fail us. But the future willbe at least bilingual, and one of these languages willbe English.

Henning HopfTechnische Universit�t Braunschweig (Germany)

Antibiotics

This is a truely moderntextbook on antibiotics

giving a thorough overview ofthe structures, function, and

resistance mechanisms for all ofthe common classes of antibiotics. Some

might say this is an “old hat”, as not muchhas happened over the last 20 years apart

from endless discussions and critiques about thedevelopment of resistance by pathogenicbacteria, their perilous spreading, and theresulting therapeutic failure often with fatalconsequences. However, there is a plethora ofantibiotic substances, but hardly any therapiesthat involve combination drugs such as is nowstandard in oncology. Of the 20 classes ofantibiotics, only four have made it onto themarket. Perhaps this is a reason to think again.For just this reason, this book is important andit comes at the right time.

The editors are a group of four experts fromCamerino, Italy, and they together with more than20 international specialists have produced a com-pendium on antibiotics from the chemists� point ofview. It is equally aimed at teachers, chemists,biologists, and pharmacologists as the target audi-ence, but it is also aimed at students. It representsthe current state of knowledge, however, it is not abook that can be consulted when recommendationsare required on how to treat an infection.

The book is introduced by a very enlighteningchapter on the problems that arise and the optionsthat are available with the screening methods andthe clinical development of new antibiotics. Onechapter considers the significance of natural prod-uct research in the identification of new drugs andanother is on resistance mechanisms. The bulkconsists of 18 chapters that are oriented along theknown and newly discovered biological targets anddescribe almost all known antibiotic substancesthat attack them. A chapter on transport and effluxmechanisms is also included.

Each of the carefully researched chapters hasan introduction on the mechanism of action of thesubstances at the target. 3D pictures showing thebonding situation of the postulated mechanisms areprovided as examples. Each chapter is very wellstructured and is in each case completed by anoutlook. The scope of the reference section at theend of each chapter is also remarkable. It includespublications until 2012 and is thus eminentlysuitable for deeper study. A number of structuralformulas have however been printed very small,especially in the summarizing tables.

Non-classical targets are also dealt with the-matically, which like chaperones or signal trans-duction present novel points of antibacterial attackweakening bacterial fitness. After identification oftarget structures and effective inhibitors, thisresearch area is becoming more important, becausepossible development of resistance is decreaseddue to lower selective pressure. In return, theimmune system can be more effective in defendingbacterial infections.

In summary, a highly informative and readableand very recommendable 500 page book has beenproduced. For completion, I would however wel-come a short chapter on the therapeutic use ofantibiotics in the clinical setting and ambulant care.This may be a task for the next edition.

Klaus-Peter KollerInstitut f�r Molekulare BiowissenschaftenUniversit�t Frankfurt (Germany)

DOI: 10.1002/anie.201400593

AntibioticsTargets, Mechanisms andResistance. Edited by Clau-dio O. Gualerzi, LetiziaBrandi, Attilio Fabbretti, andCynthia L. Pon. Wiley-VCH,Weinheim, 2013. 576 pp.,hardcover, E 149.00.—ISBN978-527333059

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3062 www.angewandte.org � 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 3061 – 3062