The translation of Blood Smears Reinterpreted was begun when the French original was still undergoing revisions. I was accorded the oppor tunity to question any statement or turn of phrase that was unclear to me or appeared liable to misinterpretation. It is my hope that as a result, ambiguities-particularly those inherent in differences between American and Eu ropean usage-have been removed and that I have at least ap proached the ultimate goal of any translation: to reflect the author's intention accurately while remaining as readable as the original. Beyond the role of translator, I was encouraged to assume the role of critic. As a result, some pages or even single sentences were hotly debated, sometimes for hours, as Marcel Bessis insisted that any inter pretations on which we could not agree should be so indicated. In fact our discussion invariably ended in agreement, though they led to changes of a sentence here or a word there and, on occasion, to the addition of a footnote or a brief paragraph.