Displacement‐based seismic design of structures, M. J. N. Priestley, G. M. Calvi, and M. J. Kowalsky, IUSS Press, Pavia, Italy. ISBN: 978‐88‐6198‐0006, 721 pp

As stated in the front piece, ‘This book is primarily directed to practicing structural designers…. The information provided in this book will be of value, not just to designers using displacement-based principles, but also to those using more conventional force-based design, who wish to understand the seismic response of structures in more detail, and to apply this understanding to design’. The book starts with a consideration in Chapter 1 as to why it is necessary to move from force-based to displacement-based seismic design. This is largely related to the guesses of initial stiffness necessary in force-based design, and the inadvisability of using these initial stiffness values to distribute seismic lateral force through the structure. Chapter 2 provides a state-of-the-science input for displacement-based design, particularly related to characteristics of elastic and inelastic displacement spectra. The fundamental concepts behind ‘direct displacement-based seismic design’—so-called because no iteration is required in the design process—are developed in Chapter 3. Analytical tools especially relevant to displacement-based design are discussed in Chapter 4. The principles of displacement-based design are then applied to different structural systems (frames, wells, dual wall/frames, masonry, timber buildings, bridges, structures with seismic isolation and added damping, and wharves) in the following chapters and are subsequently adapted to seismic assessment in Chapter 13. Finally, the principles are presented in Chapter 14 in a code format to provide a possible basis for future codification. The text is illustrated by design examples throughout. Chapter titles are as follows: \documentclass{article} \footskip=0pc \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} \begin{tabular}{ll} Chapter 1: & Introduction: The Need for Displacement-Based Seismic Design\\ Chapter 2: & Seismic Input for Displacement-Based Design\\ Chapter 3: & Direct Displacement-Based Design: Fundamental Considerations\\ Chapter 4: & Analysis Tools for Direct Displacement-Based Design\\ Chapter 5: & Frame Buildings\\ Chapter 6: & Structural Wall Buildings\\ Chapter 7: & Dual Wall--Frame Buildings\\ Chapter 8: & Masonry Buildings\\ Chapter 9: & Timber Structures\\ Chapter 10: & Bridges\\ Chapter 11: & Structures with Isolation and Added Damping\\ Chapter 12: & Wharves and Piers\\ Chapter 13: & Displacement-Based Seismic Assessment\\ Chapter 14: & Draft Displacement-Based Code for Seismic Design of Buildings \end{tabular} \end{document}