It has been said time and again that the populations of the world's countries are ageing. As nations attempt to tackle this issue largely on their own, educators in the field of gerontology and geriatrics travel the world disseminating information, conducting research and offering advice to anyone who will listen. This practice crosses cultural boundaries with ease, because demographic ageing is a common denominator while the varied cultural and anthropological perspectives are actively celebrated. This book is a collection of articles on education at and for older ages in a global context. It is based on the proceedings of the annual conference of the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education. The editors focused on issues related to gerontology and geriatric education around the world and issues related to teaching about global and cross-cultural ageing. Not really appealing to those outside the field, this handy book makes no apologies for being a tool for educators who strive to enrich their courses with insights emanating from beyond one's shores.

Christine Fry's chapter on globalisation and the experience of ageing suggests that globalisation has been detrimental to older people. Amongst other things, it argues that family life has altered, as fewer relatives now must balance work and family obligations. Monica Nandan presents a chapter on death and dying. She proposes an approach that she uses to integrate various religious beliefs and practices into undergraduate courses, acknowledging that the meaning of death is similar in some respects and varies in others across cultures. Barbara Waxman's chapter considers ways of discussing teaching cross-cultural ageing in undergraduate literature courses, using Chilean texts paired with American texts. In this way, students learn how old age is socially constructed and how writers can either reinforce or challenge negative stereotypes of older people. I particularly admired the way that Robert Yahnke extracted models of successful ageing from movies that depicted older adults as valued in their communities. He quotes films like Cinema Paradiso and Central Station to illustrate the mutual benefits of intergenerational relationships.

Academic exchanges between universities around the world are increasing. Bei Wu presents a Chinese perspective on this trend. She shows how demographic changes and recent economic developments have had a profound impact on the traditional family culture, and recounts the challenges she met and how they were overcome when teaching gerontology to health-care professionals in China. This slim book has both breadth and depth, ranging from health-care practice and service delivery to international partnerships and institutional curriculum development. It provides a rare insight into how globalisation has changed the way people of all generations interact and express themselves – with an ever increasing emphasis on individualism. Two chapters on gerontology education in Japan and Kenya confirm the global scope that the title rightly claims. This book would be a valuable addition to anyone's library that contains texts in gerontology essential to the teacher.