The book begins with a comprehensive review of the nursing field by Diana Mason, the Rudin Professor of Nursing at the Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing, City University of New York, and former Editor-in-Chief of the . Mason’s chapter is followed by reprints of twenty-five of the most influential or significant articles on nursing—some of them classic pieces dating back to Florence Nightingale, others presenting more current thinking on critical issues. This kind of source material is rarely found in one place.