Murder by stabbing.

A series of 100 deaths from homicidal stabbing has been analysed for the causation of the violence, the age and sex of both the victim and the assailant, the multiplicity of wounds, the site of single wounds, the incidence of defence wounds, association with other injuries and the weapons used.     

Stewardship of quality of care in health systems: Core functions,common pitfalls,and potential solutions

National Ministries of Health in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs) have a key role to play as stewards of the quality agenda in their health systems. This paper uses a previously developed six‐point framework for stewardship (strategy formulation, intersectoral collaboration, governance and accountability, health system design, policy and regulation, and intelligence generation) and identifies specific examples of activities in LMICs in each of these domains, pitfalls to avoid, and possible solutions to these pitfalls. Many LMICs now have quality strategies with clear vision statements. There are good examples of quality agencies and donor collaboration councils to coordinate activities across different sectors. There are multiple options for accountability, including public reporting, community accountability structures, results‐based payment, accreditation, and inspection. To improve health system design, available tools include decision support tools, task‐shifting models, supply chain management, and programs to train quality improvement staff. Policy options include legislation on disclosure of adverse events, and regulations to ensure skills of health care providers. Lastly, health information tools include patient registries, facility surveys, hospital discharge abstracts, standardized population and patient surveys, and dedicated agencies for reporting on quality. Policy‐makers can use this article to identify options for driving the quality agenda and address anticipated implementation barriers.     

Book reviews

Giovanni Arrighi, The Long Twentieth Century: Money, Power, and the Origins of Our Times, (Verso, London 1994). 414pp. ISBN 1–85984–015–9.

Iwen Morgan, Beyond the Liberal Consensus: A Political History of the United States, (Hurst, London 1994). 302 pp. ISBN 1–85065–204‐X.

Andrew Ross, The Chicago Gangster Theory of Life: Nature's Debt to Society, (Verso, London 1994). 308 pp. ISBN 0–86091–429–1.

S.Padgett (ed), The Development of the German Chancellorship: Adenauer to Kohl, (Hurst, London 1994). 204 pp. ISBN 1–85065–134–5.

Bryan D. Palmer, E.P. Thompson, Objections and Oppositions, (Verso, London 1994). 201 pp. ISBN 1–85984 975 X.     

Reviews

Christopher Saunders (ed.), Eastern Europe in Crisis and the Way Out. London: Macmillan, 1995, ix + 525 pp., £50.00.

Bernard Chavance, The Transformation of Communist Systems: Economic Reform since the 1950s, trans. Charles Hauss, Boulder: Westview Press, 1994, xi + 225 pp., £13.50.

Paul J. J. Welfens & Piotr Jasinski, Privatization and Foreign Direct Investment in Transforming Economies. Aldershot, Brookfield, Singapore, Sydney: Dartmouth, 1994; xix + 295 pp.

Geoffrey Pridham, Eric Herring & George Sanford (eds), Building Democracy? The International Dimension of Democratisation in Eastern Europe. London: Leicester University Press, 1994, viii + 224 pp., £37.50

M. Steven Fish, Democracy from Scratch: Opposition and Regime in the New Russian Revolution. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995. x + 300 pp., $39.50, £30.00.

Thomas Parland, The Rejection in Russia of Totalitarian Socialism and Liberal Democracy: A Study of the Russian New Right. Helsinki: The Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters (Societas Scientiarum Fennica), Commentationes Scientiarum Socialium 46, 1993, 255 pp., no price.

Mark Galeotti, The Age of Anxiety: Security and Politics in Soviet and Post‐Soviet Russia. London: Longman, 1995, xi + 219 pp., £29.99 h/b, £10.99 p/b.

James G. Richter, Khrushchev's Double Bind: International Pressures and Domestic Coalition Politics. Baltimore MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994, xi + 263 pp., £37.00.

Jon Jacobson, When the Soviet Union Entered World Politics. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994, xi + 343 pp.

Robert Zuzowski, Political Dissent and Opposition in Poland: The Workers’ Defense Committee “KOR”. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 1992, ix + 293 pp. $65.00.

Ya. Ya. Grishin, Dramaticheskie sobytiya v Pol'she, 1980–1981 gg. Kazan: Izdatel'stvo Kazanskogo Universiteta, 1993, 240 pp.

Robert J. Brym with the assistance of Rozalina Ryvkina, The Jews of Moscow, Kiev and Minsk: Identity, Antisemitism, Emigration. Basingstoke and London: Macmillan in association with the Institute of Jewish Affairs, 1994, xvi + 142 pp.

Allan Laine Kagedan, Soviet Zion: The Quest for a Russian Jewish Homeland. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1994, xii + 157 pp. £30.00.

Erich E. Haberer, Jews and Revolution in Nineteenth‐Century Russia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995, xv + 346 pp. £40.00, $59.95.

Mary Buckley, Redefining Russian Society and Polity. Boulder: Westview Press, 1993, xvii + 346 pp., £13.50.

Frederic J. Fleron & Erik P. Hoffman (eds), Post‐Communist Studies and Political Science. Methodology and Empirical Theory in Sovietology. Oxford: Westview Press, 1993, xv + 387 pp., £39.95 h/b, £14.95 p/b.

Chris Ward, Stalin's Russia. London: Edward Arnold, 1993, xxii + 241 pp., £10.99 p/b.

J. T. Costlow, S. Sandier & J. Vowles (eds), Sexuality and the Body in Russian Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993, 346 pp. + index, £30.00.

Larisa Vasil'eva, Kremlevskie zheny: Fakty, vospominaniya, dokumenty, slukhi, legendy, I vzglyad avtora, Moscow: Vagrius, 1992, 544 pp.

Larissa Vasilieva, Kremlin Wives, translated by Cathy Porter, New York: Arcade, 1994, xvii + 251 pp.