Since the advent of antibiotic drugs, epidemic bacterial infections have ceased to be a scourge on mankind. This volume presents an overview of the field of antibiotic action. It also includes descriptions of the major mechanisms of resistance that are increasingly becoming a serious problem in dealing with bacterial infections. In detailing the precise mechanisms of action and resistance, allied to the rational application of modern organic chemistry, this information should highlight better structures for classical antibiotics, as well as other areas of bacterial metabolism that may be sensitive to chemotherapy. In such a multidisciplinary field, this accumulation of knowledge should be invaluable to all those working on better antibiotics.
