This book is intended primarily for student social workers who are undertaking a qualifying degree programme, but also provides for other readers a useful introduction to key legal issues affecting older people in England and, to a lesser extent, other parts of the UK. The authors cover a wide spectrum of issues, although the depth of coverage on these issues varies according to the needs of the target audience. Thus, the emphasis of the book is on areas of law where social workers are likely to be involved professionally. The chapters on: Social care in the community (Chapter 1), Health care needs (Chapter 2), and Housing and residential care (Chapter 3) are more detailed than those on: Financial management (Chapter 4) and Death and family provision (Chapter 5). These last two chapters cover many matters in which lawyers and financial advisors are likely to play a much closer role with an older person than a social worker. In particular, the sections that deal with private-property rights are (understandably) quite brief.

The book does, though, provide a clear and digestible summary of many aspects of the law relating to the services and assistance that the state can (or must) provide for the older person, usually as a result of that person's disability or infirmity. The authors have done an admirable job in guiding the reader through the maze of service provision, particularly as an older person may be reliant on one or more statutory agencies for assistance, such as the local authority social services and housing departments and the local NHS primary care trust. The book also includes useful sections on mental incapacity and welfare benefits. The authors link descriptions of the relevant legal framework with analyses of the social contexts. A strength is that there are many references to relevant government papers and academic studies, from analyses of the trends in social-care and health-care to empirical research into the impact of the legal structures, one of which evinces the positive attitude of older people towards receiving direct payments that enable them to purchase care services themselves. The reader should carefully distinguish, however, the authors' descriptions of a legal rule (legislation, case law, guidance) from the passages that merely reference the findings of an academic study, or present the view of a legal commentator. As the book is likely to be used as a reference work by students, it would have benefited from numbered sections, especially given the wide ranging contents and the many topics. This would have indicated the hierarchy of issues more clearly. For example, although there is a section on sources of law, these are described in a narrative. Given the multiplicity of legal sources in the social- and health-care fields, numbered sections would have provided a better reference framework for the reader.

A significant omission is information about Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. For example, with regard to Wales, since devolution the responsibility for issuing guidance in social- and health-care contexts lies with the National Assembly of Wales and the Welsh Assembly Government, so Department of Health guidance from Westminster is not directly applicable. Although the Welsh guidance is often similar, it is usually not the same. In addition, secondary legislation in Wales often differs from that in England. Whilst there are difficulties in making reference to the separate Welsh law, and they would clutter a clear introductory text, there should a declaration that the book describes the position in England and does not fully reflect the position in the other parts of the UK. That aside, the book is a very useful introduction to the legal framework affecting older people, particularly in relation to the provision of community care and health care.