"A Reference Guide to Police Procedure now and then" (or "Past and Present" as my copy says) is excellent for the "now" part, with enough detail in text that gets straight to the point. I'd give it 5 stars if that was all this book was. However the "then/past" part is where it's a bit of a mess. Each chapter has an anecdote or two about a specific incident vaguely related to the main chapter and the book finishes with a rushed summary of British law enforcement history. The anecdotes aren't much use because they're so specific to a time and place, and the potted history at the end is so lacking in detail as to be mostly useless. The historical side of things seems to be very much an afterthought that intrudes into what is otherwise an excellent reference for modern police procedure. Don't bother if you're looking mainly for historical reference. ( )