In this thought-provoking book, Foster and Woodthorpe remind us that death comes to us all and planning for death, the event and its aftermath, must be considered in all aspects of social policy. Alan Walker's foreword opens with the familiar warning that life's only certainties are death and taxes. In this day and age some do skilfully avoid paying taxes but no one yet has found a way to avoid death. The editors have brought commentators from varied disciplines to the collection to consider and outline current policies in place for those nearing the end of their lives and those left to cope. Foster and Woodthorpe identify the inequalities that run through the strata of policies in place at present and aim to underline the need for change in the context of an ageing population in the United Kingdom, with a predicted 17 per cent rise in deaths over the next 20 years in England and Wales (National Audit Office 2008) (p. 2).

The book is divided into three sections: ‘Managing End of Life Care’, ‘When Death Occurs’ and ‘Beyond the Point of Death: The Aftermath’. This mapping of the processes linked with death and dying enables the reader to quickly develop a sense of the enormity of creating social policies that would allow us all to experience what could fit our personal definitions of a ‘good death’. The reader's interest is always bound to be niche but the inclusion of varied voices informs the reader of the complexities of how we consider death and its ramifications in social policy in a compelling and informative way. Reading as a practitioner, I found this helpful in understanding each of the contributor's perspectives. In Chapter Two, Ellis, Winslow and Nobel illuminate the obstacle course of defining what end-of-life care really means in the third and fourth ages. I found the historical context they offer useful in assimilating the other chapters. Erica Brogstrom, in Chapter Three, leads the reader through the National End of Life Care Strategy and questions whether we view dying as a medical or social problem. The ethical difficulties of researching death mean that there is often a paucity of data in some areas of research. After reading Part One, I was left considering what needs arise when someone just dies; when diagnosis comes via a post-mortem or lifespans just come to an end, how does policy support those who were not prepared at all or who were not previously held by any strategies of support or care?

Part Two outlines the issues that arise from the simple fact that when we die our bodies need to be disposed of. Foster and Woodthorpe's review of the United States of America's support of those in funeral poverty is one of the most powerful chapters in the book. In a time of rising funeral costs, an ageing population and austerity, they argue that policy must be fit for purpose and brought up to date. When an interviewee talks of the shame of paying for a funeral in instalments, the human voice is brought to this book in the extracts from interviews in Chapter Seven by Valentine and Baulds (pp. 116–24). The narratives they share remind us that one of the purposes of social policies is to support the individual to live and die with dignity. These two chapters (Five and Seven) highlighted for me that living well is integral to dying well.

Part Three considers aspects of how we remain beyond death through grief and the redistribution of our wealth. In Chapter Nine, Anne Corden writes about grieving and how it is supported in the workplace. When potentially 10 per cent of an organisation's workforce could be affected by a significant bereavement, McGuiness (Reference McGuiness2007) rightly calls for more research in this area. Foster and Woodthorpe state, ‘death shines a light on how we live’ (p. 1) and for me this is the crux of this book. The chapters have provided a platform for a broad view of present policy, invited discussion and, most importantly, shown where the fault lines of inequality lie. Reading it as a non-academic death professional, it enabled me to listen to diverse researchers considering the challenges of national support for those dying and those accompanying them. In opening this dialogue the editors ask for our attention, however varied our interests in this topic are. In conclusion, Foster and Woodthorpe state that now is the time to co-ordinate policy and academic research so that all the implications of death and dying are comprehensively addressed by social policy. It may be that paying taxes fits in there somewhere too.