In five plain and easily readable chapters Sarah Stott gives us poignant insight into the lifetime pain and trauma of sexual assault on male children. It is a very sensitive and practical guide for assisting victims and their helpers. This book is essential reading for parents, teachers, pastors, youth workers, carers and social workers.

In Chapter 1, Men's Experiences of Sexual Assault, Stott presents the experiences of five men who were raped and abused as children (between 4 and 11 years) by parents, cousins, peers or neighbours. Each testifies to the devastating internal and external effects of the tragic experience. These leave indelible scars on relationships and place overwhelming burdens of utter confusion, guilt, loneliness and betrayal. Prophetically, and definitely profoundly, Andrew (50+) says, "I don't want sex. I want to make love".

In Chapter 2, Understanding Child Sexual Assault, the author defines this as "sexually, physically and emotionally" abusing and breaching "personal boundaries" which "is always criminal". There is a paragraph on perpetrators and their patterns. The chapter lists some of the effects of these assaults on these innocent victims. "Bearing the unbearable" pain can lead to self-destructive patterns in adult life.

Chapter 3, Understanding Adult Male and Sexual Assault, examines some sad statistics. These assaults are not rare occurrences in any society. The history of wars, prisons, some Western initiation rites ("pranks") reveal an association of sexual assault with an abuse of power and other misdirected emotions. She briefly addresses some commonly held myths and gives three examples of people, who have had their feelings brutalised, and who have suffered the "hell in my head" (Mark 30+) of Rape Trauma Syndrome.

In Chapter 4, Recovery, Stott helps us to understand the deep fragmentation of self. The chapter offers hope for the victim and looks at feelings such as: anger, guilt, shame and humiliation. These can often emerge problematically at crucial life stages e.g. at puberty, parenthood.

In the final chapter, Practical Help, various avenues for assistance are suggested to the victims and their helpers. It outlines a helpful Task List of Recovery with a dozen crucial principles - which I believe should be photocopied, enlarged and magnetised to the fridge door! Addresses and telephone numbers are given for further help for victims, partners and supporters in the United Kingdom. Stott ends with wise words, "… do not give up hope…People can and do recover from sexual assault. It takes time, patience, love and trust."

I would have liked the publishers to tell me who Sarah Stott is and where, when and how her research was undertaken. Whoever she is, she has crafted the complex emotional mosaic of sexual abuse with patience and empathy. She has brought welcomed light into what William Cowper, the Christian poet and hymn writer, called being "buried above ground".

David Morgan BSc (Hons) Psychology