A new style of textbook, aimed principally at the European (and British in particular) student. It is needed because almost all current organic chemistry texts are written to a fixed American pattern. This text is different from these in a number of important ways: The approach is based on explanation rather than fact. The functional group approach (alkane, alkene, alkyne) has served American State College readers well but increasingly students and instructors are attracted more to an approach based on mechanism and reaction type.