This volume is identical to a thesis submitted for a PhD examination at the University of Amsterdam in 2006. It comprises seven chapters including an introduction and concluding discussion plus a methodological appendix. Four of the chapters have been written as ‘stand alone’ papers and have been published or submitted elsewhere. The research explored the extent to which ‘older adults differ in the way they integrate in society in The Netherlands’ and the extent to which ‘relationships exist between the socio-spatial context in which older adults live and the way in which they integrate’ (p. 15). At the core, the research was concerned with the importance of achieving a ‘good old age’ through practices of active and passive integration. Active integration is understood as participation in activities (such as formal and informal caring, voluntary work, paid work, civic engagement and leisure pursuits), while passive participation refers to the ‘embeddedness in social networks and their contacts with other people in different spaces and places’ (p. 21). The degree of integration is analysed by spatial context including regional variations across The Netherlands, urban-rural differences, and socio-economically deprived neighbourhoods. As the author notes, an absence of data means there is no way to understand the depth, meaning or frequency of these ‘integration activities’. Data are drawn from the research project Ageing Well: A European Study of Adult Well-Being which in The Netherlands contacted just over 1,900 participants aged between 50 and 89 years.

The first two chapters introduce the key concepts and overview demographic change (mortality, fertility and regional differences) in The Netherlands, and provide the context for the subsequent four empirical chapters. These present different aspects of older people's integration. One chapter explores rates of productivity (understood as paid work, voluntary work, providing care and support, and home maintenance and housekeeping) analysed by gender, age, household and spatial characteristics. The second explores the relationship between participation in leisure, again broken down by gender, age and spatial characteristics. While these common variables help knit these chapters together, models of contraction (of activities of ‘integration’) and convergence (around the home) across the lifecourse also lend a degree of coherence. Another chapter considers the social support networks of older people in urban and rural areas, differentiated by age and gender. The final empirical chapter explores the environmental perceptions of older vulnerable adults, with a particular emphasis on the environmental stresses of living in deprived neighbourhoods. The book concludes with a summary of the findings and a discussion about the potential for gerontology to accommodate geographical aspects such as ‘the uses of space and place’ and ‘environmental variation’ and the future challenges and expectations of ageing in western societies.

The volume presents an excellent overview of the current experiences of older people in The Netherlands. The data are clearly presented in graphic, tabular and map format and the text is written in an accessible style. While not faulting the empirical research, however, reading the volume as a whole reveals repetition, which I recognise stems from the format required of Dutch PhD theses. For example, similar introductions, methodological discussion, theoretical and conceptual considerations can be found in several of the empirical chapters.

As well as an account of the current state of ageing in The Netherlands, the research offers geographical perspectives on gerontological issues. It is more than a ‘statistical overview’ and raises important questions about the difference that spatial context makes to older people's integration (and consequently, their experiences of a ‘good old age’). I think that this is its most valuable contribution. The challenge now is to make sense of the spatial (as well as the age and gender) variations that have been revealed. For while statistical analysis reveals patterns and trends, it is less effective in explaining them. Although attempts are made to account for these variations, occasionally they resort to stereotype. For instance, spatial variations in social and leisure activities are attributed to ‘the way of thinking’ of residents of different regions (p. 96), to ‘regional tradition’ (p. 92) or ‘the image of the [regional] population’ being ‘of a more exuberant character’ and more prepared to seek ‘congenial entertainment outside the home’ (p. 142). Consequently, the relationship between the social and the spatial is understood by ‘people choos[ing] the residential location that best fits their lifestyle’ (p. 95).

Such cultural and social representations might well be appropriate explanations, but I wonder whether spatial determinism drives them. Attributing geographic variations to the ‘spirit of the region’ could be construed as somewhat crude anthropomorphism, particularly given that other research dispels such geographic myths. For example, differences between ‘modern’ cities and ‘traditional’ (pre-modern?) peripheral areas are not borne out by different volunteering rates (p. 77). Yet if space is not just a ‘container’ within which things happen, but also constitutive of such activity in complex ways, it is necessary to reflect on reducing geographic variation to ‘regional culture’. Certainly the author is aware of the limitations of the data available for analysis. While better quality data-sets would no doubt be useful (pp. 143–4), I think it is also important to consider the potential for multi-method research to provide explanations for the identified variations. Nonetheless, this is a very welcome contribution to our understanding of the social – and spatial – positions of older people in Europe.