Key Concepts in Social Gerontology (SAGE Key Concepts series)
I welcome this book’s refreshing approach to developing an understanding of fifty major concepts being employed in social gerontology. Far from a dictionary, the concepts are portrayed as complex, and conflicting definitions and usages are both noted and evaluated. The joint UK-US authorship promotes a much needed international approach to the field—something all too lacking in most American textbooks and theoretical articles.  Each article includes a (necessarily selective) set of references, and cross-references to other concepts included in the book.  Readers might enjoy a ‘follow the cross-reference’ adventure, which will situate each concept in a set of related concepts at the same, a broader, or a narrower level. Moreover, the coverage and evaluation of the concepts is right at the current leading edge in a rapidly moving fieldVictor MarshallDept. of Sociology and Institute on Aging, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill