7th edition

Dr. Marriott is an excellent teacher and his approach to the ECG is more intuitive to me than any other author I’ve come across. This is the first text that I recommend to anyone who is actually serious about learning electrocardiography. The more recent editions may be equally useful, but for mostly nostalgic reasons I have a copy of the 8th edition, the last one fully authored by Dr. Marriott. Most of the major topics are still relevant and, as the title states, the information in very practical.

Still, it’s from 1988, so it's bound to be a bit dated. The sections on MI and ACS are underwhelming to the modern reader, as the age of reperfusion followed soon after publication, but I think it’s a worthwhile sacrifice for being taught by an ECG master in his own words. Any other book can rattle off the criteria and accuracy of certain findings, but it’s another thing to get inside the mind of a electrocardiography legend and learn to think like him. The section on arrhythmias is indispensable, especially the chapters covering bradycardia and heart blocks, and it's still my go-to refresher when I'm foggy on a certain mechanism or need a straightforward explanation to pass onto someone else

I've got a shelf full of EKG texts and this is my favorite by far—that should say enough.