And so in 2016 I started the first part of the Monographs in contact allergy series with the subject 'Non-fragrance allergens in cosmetics'. Presented were all allergens in cosmetics with the exception of perfume raw materials and essential oils, which I wanted to deal with in a second book. I found almost 500 allergens, substances that had caused allergic contact dermatitis due to their presence in cosmetics. Because I also reviewed the literature on contact allergy to those substances in non-cosmetic products as well as many other side effects (contact urticaria, photosensitization, systemic side effects) and I equally presented additional data such as studies on the qualitative and quantitative presence of the relevant substances in cosmetic products, it became a very voluminous book, 1430 pages on A4 format. It had to be split into two parts to be able to take them out of the bookcase without straining your back.

I have received many personal reactions to this book. The nicest was from Howard Maibach from the United States. He is the last living Godfather of contact dermatology and was in his late 80's at the time. He is known for his short emails and so was this one with his commentary on the book: 'Brilliant!' I think that at that point he got the idea of nominating me for the Honorary membership of the American Contact Dermatitis Society. Some book reviews are summarized below.

Book reviews

Dermatitis 2018;29:100

This monograph is highly recommended and is a comprehensive reference that best serves the needs of dermatologists or allergists involved in the advanced practice of patch testing. It contains concise summaries of each of the 497 chemical ingredients described, is well referenced, and also contains practical information about patch testing concentrations of these chemicals, especially for those ingredients that are less commonly encountered allergens.

A.A. GASPARI

Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Dermatologie en Venereologie 2018;28:44-45

….Een boekbespreking zoals deze eindigt meestal met de aanbeveling dat iedereen die geïnteresseerd is in het onderwerp of het in de patiëntenzorg kan gebruiken, een exemplaar in haar of zijn bibliotheek moet hebben. Als die aanbeveling ooit valide was, dan is het wel voor dit boek van collega Anton de Groot, een absolute must have voor alle dermatologische maatschappen/vakgroepen en niet alleen voor de speciaal in contactallergie geïnteresseerden. Dit boek blijkt het eerste deel te zijn van een geplande serie van drie Monographs in Contact Allergy. Het tweede deel zal gaan over parfumgrondstoffen en in het derde zal allergie voor lokale en systemische geneesmiddelen behandeld worden. Ik kijk er alvast naar uit!

M.L.A. SCHUTTELAAR

Hungarian Journal of Dermatology and Venereology 2018;94:63

At one point I received an email from Prof. Erzsébet Temesvári from Hungary. She asked if I would send her a copy of the new book and she would write a book review for the Hungarian Journal of Dermatology and Venereology. The publisher was, somewhat to my surprise (Hungary is not exactly a large and important market for the book) willing to do so. The book review was so beautiful that I'm showing it in toto. Like probably most of you, I can't make any sense of it. Fortunately, the document ended with the word 'Bibliája', from which I conclude that she considers the book a standard work or at least devoted a number of edifying words to it.

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