"Another damned, thick, square book! Always scribble, scribble, scribble! Eh! Mr. Gibbon?" From the Literary Memoirs of Willi am, DUKE OF GLOUCESTER, 1743-1805 The foreword of any book is probably the most difficult to write -not only because it stands at the beginning of an exercise in writing and logic but because it is in this chapter that areader can expect to find a clear and unambiguous explanation of the author's reason for writing the book and why some subject matter has been included and other subject matter excluded. Potential readers ofthis book may not have an inclination to question why some subject matter has been excluded but instead may wonder why another book on calcium antagonists has been published. However, it is arguable with some force that there have been at least three recent developments in the field of calcium antagonism which provide more than adequate support for the view that another book on this topic is warranted. These developments include: (i) an improved understanding of the chemical structure, mode of action and architecture of the voltage-activated, calcium antagonist-sensitive calcium channels and their associated calcium-antagonist specific binding sites; (ii) a more accurate appreciation ofhow and when the calcium antagonists should be used in the management of a variety of clinical dis orders including cerebral ischaemia atherosclerosis, "mild" ischaemic heart disease, ventricular hyper trophy, impaired ventricular relaxation and hypertension (to name but a few), and (iii) the emergence of a second generation of calcium antagonists.

1 The Second Generation of Calcium Antagonists: What Are They?

2 The Chemistry of the Second Generation Calcium Antagonists
3 The Molecular Biology of the Voltage-Dependent, Calcium Antagonist-Sensitive Calcium Channels
4 Calcium Antagonists and the Calcium Release Channels of the Sarcoplasmic Reticulum
5 "Up" and "Down" Regulation of the Calcium Antagonist Binding Sites
6 Oxyradical-Induced Lipid Peroxidation: Do Calcium Antagonists Provide Any Protection?
7 Endothelin-1 and the Calcium Antagonists
8 Calcium Antagonists and the Stunned Heart
9 Calcium Antagonists and the Hibernating Myocardium
10 Second Generation Calcium Antagonists and the Ischaemic Myocardium
11 The Molecular Mechanisms Involved in the Anti-Atherogenic Effect of the Calcium Antagonists
12 Second Generation Calcium Antagonists: Their Use in Congestive Heart Failure
13 Second Generation Calcium Antagonists as Blood Pressure Lowering Agents: The Prevention of Cardiac Hypertrophy
14 Second Generation Calcium Antagonists and the Management of Cerebral Ischaemia
15 Second Generation Calcium Antagonists and the Coronary Circulation
16 The Second Generation Calcium Antagonists
References.