Life, Death and the Elderly

`Contemporary social and welfare issues on ageing and the elderly are focused on care in the community, pensions, and retirement age; issues which this book shows have been in existence throughout history, and for which the book provides a useful historical context.' – Health Policy and Planning

`An invaluable critical survey of historical writing on definitions of old age since ancient times, on the health of the elderly and its treatment, on their family and household relationships, the limited role of institutions, work and retirement.' – Medical History

`Every essay challenges to a greater or lesser extent today's received collective wisdom.' – Population Studies

`The research has been of the highest quality and the writings are voluminous and widely accessible.' – Journal of Historical Geography

`This volume is at the same time a sample of the most sophisticated approaches to this field of research and an important contribution to present-day debates, for it shows how many of the assumptions about the past used to support contemporary views are misconceptions.' – Labour History Review