#The introductory chapter by the editors is extremely wide-ranging and therefore very useful for any reader not yet introduced to the manifold intricacies of this topic. What is remarkable about this chapter is that three aspects are dealt with at the same time: the driving forces of the reform of network industries, the economics of pro-competitive regulation of them, and the political and institutional traps/complexities of this process. If this were not enough, it is done with a view on both the US and Europe. The remainder of the book shows, sometimes with painstaking detail, not only how difficult it is for regulators and their political masters but also for incumbents and not just for new entrants, as is always stressed. It shows the tricky question of extending reforms to the water and sewage sectors, how complex state/company interactions are in the first and later stages of reform and how hard it is to design "regulation" properly in the second generation.# # Jacques Pelkmans, College of Europe, Bruges and Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels, Belgium This book examines the transformation of public utilities # telecommunications, energy, water distribution, postal services, broadcasting and transportation # in Western Europe and the US. Historically governmentally controlled and monopolistic, the emphasis has shifted, since privatisation and liberalisation, to developing markets and engineering competition. Key to the success of privatisation is regulation; both self-imposed and externally imposed, and the contributors examine the many aspects of regulation including: # the European approach # the role of regulation in an era of partial competition # the dynamics of regulation # policies for open network access # an analysis ambiguity of #engineering competition#.