This is the third edition of The Sociology of Aging by Diana Harris, now Professor Emerita of Sociology at the University of Tennessee. One can presume, therefore, that it is not only a successful textbook but also has become a ‘standard’ for the vibrant American undergraduate student market. Those from outside the country cannot fail to be impressed by the number of gerontology courses available at universities across the United States. It is this market that this book aims to serve. The book has 15 chapters arranged in five sections: Introduction/overview; Culture and human behavior; Inequality; Older people and social institutions; and Major issues confronting older people. The contents for this new edition have been updated to cover the impending retirement of the baby boomers, new forms of housing, elder abuse and quality issues in nursing homes, and the challenges that confront Medicare and Social Security.

This book is very well presented and easy to read. Undoubtedly, it will be appearing on many reading lists of US courses, but it is unlikely to be widely used in the United Kingdom as the perspective and orientation of this book is firmly rooted in the United States. Whilst there are some valuable sections, the overall slant of the book is so ethnocentric that it has little utility for readers in other parts of the world. The research and policy base that underpin the book are firmly American. Despite considerable gerontological scholarship in Europe (as evident in this journal) there are only two British references: Laslett (Reference Laslett1965) and Young and Willmott (Reference Young and Willmott1957). There is no consideration of emerging research areas such as transnational and global ageing or mainstream sociological perspectives on ‘the ageing body’. Indeed the sociological perspective presented here is rather traditional. Whilst there are discussions of activity theory, socialisation and cultural norms, more recent theoretical perspectives, such as those influenced by post-modernism, the ideas of Foucault and other social theorists or notions of consumption, are entirely absent. Overall this is probably a very useful book for its intended readership, American undergraduates, but the book will have little appeal beyond that market and will be of only limited value to gerontology teachers around the globe.