The Palgrave international handbook of alternative education. Edited by Helen E. Lees and Nel Noddings. Pp 528. London: Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 2016. £126.50 (hbk). ISBN 978-1-137-41290-4.

This substantial ‘Handbook’ of alternative education brings together a collection of theoretical perspectives and practices from a wide range of different educational contexts. The book can be considered less a handbook in the conventional sense and more a showcase of the treasures editors Helen Lees and Nel Noddings have collected ‘in our search for promising alternative forms of education’ (p. 2). Given the diverse nature of the focus (alternative education) and the geographical extent of its reach (international), it is important for the reader to understand what the editors were looking for in their search and where they looked. In terms of the ‘where’, Nodding’s and Lees recognise that ‘[t]he alternatives we seek may be found both outside and inside the places officially designated as schools’ (pp. 1–2). This is important and differentiates the book from other recent publications such as Kraftl’s (2015) Geographies of Alternative Education which focuses on alternatives outside the mainstream. However, Lees and Noddings are also wary of ‘much of what is pressed on us today as alternative practice’ (p. 2) such as charter or free schools, arguing they may be masquerading as alternatives whilst drawing upon conventional educational practices. Equally, they acknowledge the need for criticality when designating something as educational, arguing that much of what happens in schools ‘may not qualify as education at all’ (p. 2). It is clear from this brief discussion that both ‘alternative’ and ‘education’ are positioned by the editors as contested concepts and the intention is that the reader engages with them critically. It follows, then, that examples of alternative education may be found in unexpected places and that not everything which presents itself as such may qualify on closer inspection. In terms of the ‘what’ alternative education is, the editors avoid providing a definition but instead, celebrate the freedom ‘that we do not know “exactly” what an educational alternative is or can be’ (p. 3). The editors, individually and then collectively, identify some principles to guide the reader. The principles of autonomy and self/social empowerment as expressed in the relationships between teacher and student and the ability of either party to make educational choices are particularly emphasised. The handbook contains 30 contributions organised in three discrete sections: Thinking Differently, Doing Differently and Acting Differently; a classification which broadly reflects Stephen Kemmis’s (2009) conceptualisation of praxis – thinking, doing, relating. Collectively, it covers all ages from early years through to higher education and life-long learning and a range of different educational concerns. Readers may be drawn to particular authors or themes and each chapter can be read independently. However, there is also much to be gained by reading the whole collection because it allows connections to be made and reveals unexpected ‘treasures. ’ The book has been developed as ‘a collection of British Journal of Educational Studies Vol. 66, No. 2, June 2018, pp. 267–285