The number of mental health nurses working in community settings in the UK has risen steadily since the appointment of the first ‘outpatient nurses’ in the mid1950s. Data from the 1996 quinquennial survey of community mental health nurses (CMHNs) in England and Wales suggested that around 7,000 CMHNs were at that time working in these two countries (Brooker and White 1997). As mental health policy continues to promote the development of community, rather than institutional, care, the number of CMHNs working in the UK may continue expanding. As educators of community mental health nurses it struck us as somewhat odd, then, that there was no up-to-date dedicated text prepared specifically for this group of practitioners. True, there have been some very useful book contributions over the years, both nursing-oriented and addressing issues from a multidisciplinary perspective. However, as the largest group of health professionals providing specialist mental health services in the community, we felt that community mental health nurses deserved access to a single, comprehensive text that could be of use as a central resource. This edited book is the outcome of our deliberations.