Basic Immunology: Functions and Disorders of the Immune System

The book is organized well and would seem to offer a great explanation of immunology, other than the fact that the author's writing style is very wordy and kind of weird in my opinion. I don't really understand sentences fully the first time I read them, and not because of the content but because of how it is written. I think it's a very passive and wordy writing style. That's just my opinion though. It seem to be a great book, but I don't like his sentence structure and word order. I'll give an example:On page 13, the author gives an overview on how antigens are presented to T cells and B cells. In the first few sentences, he says that specialized cells present antigens to T cells. In the next few, he addresses how antigens are presented to B cells like this: "Less is known about cells that may capture antigens for display to B lymphocytes. B lymphocytes may directly recognize the antigens of microbes (either released or on the surface of the microbes), or macrophages lining the lymphatic channels may capture antigens and display them to B cells." The use of the word 'may' makes it seem like it is not understood how antigens are presented to B cells, and they may do this or they may do that, we don't know. But you later find out that they do both (at least as far as I know), and the author probably should have used the word 'can,' as in they can do this or they can do that, but we don't know a lot about it.I'd suggest reading a little bit of the book in the preview to see if you like it. If you do like the writing style, the book is great. Everything is laid out well and its all good information with great explanations without any fluff.Edit: I've read more of the book now, and I like it a lot more. I don't run into problems with his writing style anymore. I don't know if it changed throughout the first couple chapter, or I got used to it, or it was just me in the first chapter. One thing I have noticed is that the author seems to do a really good job about introducing material. Every time I start reading about a new idea, i have seen it before earlier in the book. He does this in a really seamless and fluid manner, and it is really helpful. It is really easy to understand new topics as he talks about them. I changed my rating from 3/5 to 5/5.

I have been struggling to find a source that is comprehensive enough to prepare me for USMLE while not overwhelming me with information, and I am happy to say that this book is just the right one. Dr. Abbas does a great job of presenting the information in a way that is understandable while making sure that the level of content is appropriate for a medical student. If you are a graduate student in immunology this book would be too basic, but for medical students with little background in the subject, it works really well.

Basic Immunology is the best book to get to know what immunology is about. My PI suggests this book and Janeway to me together, for Basic immunology, it covers almost every important part of the immunology, with well-drew pictures to depict the lecture part and is really interesting to read.

I bought this book as a supplemental reading for my immunology medical school class and it is absolutely amazing. The book is a very concise, easy to read text that clarifies any confusion you may have about the immune system. It also has at the end of each chapter questions for review and a summary of main points in the chapter. Lastly, the diagrams/illustrations are very helpful in conveying the information in a pictorial format. Overall, I would highly recommend this book to any individual that is taking an immunology course in school as you will not regret it!

Aced the course. This book actually does a very good job at helping break things down. I hardly ever went to class after about the first month, relied solely on the book, and it panned out very well.

Great, easy to understand, and thorough explanation of the immune system

I'm in medical school and our year 2 curriculum basically comes straight out of this textbook. It's easy to read and follow, has great diagrams, and I've used it almost religiously to study for all my exams.

Book is misleading and caused confusion for my class. This book presents alternative beliefs as to how the immune adaptive system works, such as T and B cell activation and the identity of the primary Antigen Presenting Cell. Information, such as anatomical locations of cell interactions, is inconsistently presented. Thankfully, many in our study group took an undergrad immunology course, and we were able to refer to other textbooks. With names like Harvard and Elsevier on this book, we often second guessed ourselves... and still do! Perhaps there is significant research on these topics that is changing the conventional view on adaptive immunity cell interactions - if so, let us know!