This text book is explicitly aimed at undergraduates in the early years of their degree and/or those taking foundation degrees or access courses. The editors intend the text to be of use both to single honours social policy students and students whose primary discipline may be in cognate areas, such as political science, sociology or social work/social care. Given that single honours social policy courses seems to be disappearing, a text book that appeals to an audience with diverse interests and disciplinary knowledge is increasingly useful in teaching. This self-styled friendly introduction to social policy takes an innovative approach to the presentation and coverage of social policy issues that breaks with how the discipline is often presented to undergraduates.

The book is organised into three themed parts: key concepts; policy and the life-course; comparative and supranational dimensions of policy. In each part, there are four or five distinct chapters with each chapter provided by a different author(s). The first part covers: welfare, social justice, social exclusion, difference and diversity and health and well-being. Part II includes: families and children, young people, older people and death and the end of life. The third and final part addresses: devolution in the UK, comparative welfare, the European Union and social policy, global social policy − globalized health policy and social policy and the environment. Casting my eye over the contents page raised a number of questions concerning the seeming omission of important topics: where is the chapter exploring work, employment and labour market policy? What about the politics and history of social policy? The editors, anticipating this reaction, are up-front in stating that the text does not provide a detailed historical overview of the development of social policy in the UK. Instead, the aim is to concentrate attention on key concepts, debates and issues connected to the topic of each chapter.

The result is that some of the most salient contemporary policy debates are brought to the fore in way that connects them to key concepts (what is welfare/social justice/poverty and exclusion?) and acknowledges the complexity of social policy in an accessible way. Hudson's opening chapter on what we mean by ‘welfare’, for example, is not only a useful exposition of the lack of clarity around the term, but introduces students to the ‘social division of welfare’. This will undoubtedly help generate considerable discussion amongst students about what is perceived to be ‘welfare’ and why. What is innovative about the book is that it is a conscious attempt to shift away from a chronological perspective that perhaps too often has been structured around an England-centric discussion of the ‘the poor law’, new liberalism, social democracy and Thatcherism. Important as these are (and I would say they are still essential knowledge), concentrating on contemporary policy issues may well help engage students from a range of disciplines, with little prior knowledge of social policy, and/or where teaching takes place in the different constituent countries of the UK. There is though, an inevitable trade-off, and this reader was left with the feeling that the text could feel disjointed and unbalanced in places or that key aspects of the social policy discipline were missing.

The discussion of work, employment and labour market policy, for example, occurs primarily in Coffey and Dugdill's chapter on ‘Health and well-being’ with some discussion in Shaw's chapter on ‘Young people’ also. The former chapter is a concise, informative discussion of what these terms mean, how they are affected by various factors and how policymakers have and continue to identify paid work as a route to good health. The latter offers a useful overview of the problematisation of young people and some discussion of youth unemployment policy. Given the centrality that ‘paid work’ occupies in contemporary policymaking however, the absence of a dedicated chapter examining employment and labour market policy was disappointing. Similarly (and whilst this may reflect my personal predilection for ideas and a critical political economy perspective on social policy), it was surprising to find no chapter devoted to Marxism, neo-liberalism or social democracy. References to neo-liberalism, the New Right and social democracy are dotted about different chapters, and Dwyer's chapter on social justice provides a good introduction to the philosophical differences separating market/state approaches to welfare provision. Yet it is the use of the terms ‘neo-liberal’, ‘social democratic’, ‘new right’, ‘political left’ in the chapters in the text that make it somewhat peculiar that there is no detailed discussion of just what exactly the differences between these positions are and the implications this has for policy formulation and implementation. Given the financial crisis and its aftermath in the form of austerity and punitive reforms of social security and employment policy, the absence of Marxist critiques of welfare also seems something of an oversight. The chapters that cover social exclusion and difference and diversity are both excellent introductions to these topics. The latter is especially strong on ‘race’ and immigration, but ‘class’ is notable by its absence. Together with the break from the chronological approach to explaining social policy, this contributes to the perception that the book is more likely to appeal to (or is intended for) students from a health, social care or social work course taking an introductory social policy module as an elective.

Despite these reservations, I appreciated the different approach the editors and authors have taken with this text book. The book's strength undoubtedly lies in its ability to succinctly cover important policy areas in an inventive way. Kinghorn's chapter on ‘Death and the end of life’ and Shaw's exploration of global social policy through globalised health policy introduce students to the complexity and tensions inherent within policymaking through interesting topical policy examples. The chapters on devolution, the European Union and comparative welfare should also mean that students new to social policy are presented early on with the variety of bodies involved in the field and/or challenged to reconsider taken for granted assumptions about welfare within the UK. Were I to be teaching an introduction to social policy course, I would definitely include this text on the reading list, but I would also advise students to pick up the Students Companion to Social Policy (Alcock et al., Reference Alcock, May and Wright2012) for additional complementary coverage of history, politics and ideology.