The definition of community psychiatry is, of course, a central issue in any personal choice of books or articles about this field. The topic may be interpreted as the study of the provision of psychiatric and related services for the optimal care of the whole community or population. Alternatively, the concept may be confined to all services except hospital residential care, or even to more restrictive definitions. My preference is to adopt the wider definition on the basis of Gestalt theory applied to organisations. That is to say, non-hospital care may have characteristics of its own, but it will also have characteristics which result from its inclusion in the whole programme of psychiatric and social care available. Hence, community psychiatry is only understandable in the context of all forms of care. The interaction of the clinical and organisational roles in community psychiatry is probably more important for good patient care than in any other clinical specialty. In reading about this topic, therefore, a balance has to be struck between clinical psychology and psychiatry and their related skills on the one hand and an understanding of management and its skills on the other.