Mental health in later life is an important issue for us all. Most of us have elderly relatives, are older ourselves or will be older in the future. Despite this, it is an issue that has attracted limited academic attention. The attention that it has been given focuses primarily on mental illness: dementia in particular, and increasingly functional mental health problems such as depression (Westerhof and Keyes, 2010; Segal et al, 2017). Even books which have the term ‘mental health’ in the title tend to be dominated by a focus on mental illness. An underlying message that pervades much of the literature is that mental ill health is not only an inevitable – and linear – consequence of ‘old age’ but also that risks are linked to agerelated issues themselves, for example physical health problems, rather than life course factors or social inequalities (Age Concern and Mental Health Foundation, 2006). There is very little discourse about mental health in later life and its location inside, and links with, life course analysis and inequalities. Limited engagement with theory, including that relating to ageing, is also a weakness of the field.

The book is timely for a number of reasons. The older population in the UK is growing: it is also increasingly complex, heterogeneous and diverse. That British society is also shifting, and traditional models, for example ‘the family’ and assumed patterning, for example the definition of a ‘generation’, are being unsettled is also relevant. Ageing and older populations are paramount concerns for UK and European governments; they are also the focus of a wide range of public and policy initiatives, some of which include mental (ill) health. Dementia-related policies abound and there has been a recent drive to place mental health services on the same footing as services for people with physical health problems (Department of Health, 2009b; 2009d; 2012b; 2015b; HM Government, 2011; NHS England, 2016). There is also a growing recognition of the need to include older people in policies that are for all ‘people with mental health problems’ (Mental Health Foundation, 2009; 2016a) and to ensure that they are not discriminated against in terms of accessing treatments (Ghosh, 2009). Some policies targeting older people may also incorporate a mental health dimension.