Title: Sharks Don't Get Cancer
Author: Dr I. William Lane (Avery)
£9.95/US$ I I .95
This book seems to have taken on cult status since its publication. While the subject matter alone would make it deserving of this, we can't help feeling that the offbeat title must have been a major contributor (a small minority of sharks actually do develop cancer).

The thesis - that shark cartilage can reduce or stop the growth of cancer - was sparked by a seminal piece of research in 1971 by Dr Folkman which was later to be celebrated under the term 'antiangiogenesis'. He noted that cancer growth could be slowed if the body could somehow be stopped from developing new blood vessels. Twelve years later, two researchers discovered that shark cartilage contains a substance that inhibits the development of blood vessels that can nourish tumours.

Piecing together these two findings, Dr Lane - a President Reagan appointee to Guinea - returned to devote his time to researching the subject. The result is this book, which is sure to enter the canon of essential books on cancer (at least among those who have open minds).

Title: It's All In Your Head
Author: Dr Hal A Huggins (Avery)
£8.95/US$10.95
If mercury is one of the most poisonous substances known to man, why do dentists use it to fill our teeth? This extremely logical question is the starting point of this well-researched book, and of American dentist Dr Huggins's one-man campaign of many years.

Such has been his zeal in spreading the word that he published the first American edition himself. Now it has found a reputable publisher, and some of the more technical sections have been removed in favour of more accessible material.

The arguments about mercury have been raging behind the screens within dentistry almost since it was introduced as a repair agent in 1840. Despite the claims of the UK and US dental bodies who maintain that only 5 per cent of the population is sensitive to mercury, Dr Huggins has discovered that the figure is closer to 90 percent. This can materialize as memory loss and depression to one of the most common reactions, arthritis. The research is impressive; the implications worrying. Mercury is the great deception played by dentistry, as Huggins shows. An essential read.

Title: Fluoride -The Aging Factor
Author: Dr John Yiamouyiannis (Health Action Press)
£8/US$ 14.95
'Make no mistake about it, fluoride is a poison,' says Dr Yiamouyiannis. In this American book available in the UK only through the National Pure Water Association (Meridan, Caegoody Lane, Ellesemere, Shropshire SY12 9DW), he sets out the evidence for the damage it causes to the immune system, bones, skin, arteries and, yes, teeth. He also catalogues its links with genetic damage and cancer.

Recommended reading for any government official contemplating adding this toxin to the water supply.