This edited text is the third in a series entitled the Sociology of Health Professions: Future International Developments , published by Policy Press and edited by Mike Saks and Mike Dent, supported by a high-profile international advisory board. The research-based series is focused on giving innovatory sociological insights into the past, present and future development of the health professions. It is mainly oriented towards final-year and postgraduate students, academic lecturers/researchers, practitioners and policy makers. Books included in the series must be resonant with the template for the general Policy Press series on the sociology of the health professions which aims:

• • to inform and stimulate debate about issues in the sociology of health professions;

• • to influence policy development and practice in the fields concerned;

• • to make a significant contribution to academic thinking in the sociology of health; and

• • to produce original national/international work of recognised high quality.

The importance of the current volume on The Allied Health Professions: A Sociological Perspective is in plugging a major contemporary hole in the literature in relation to the array of health professional groups that this book covers. The special significance of this monograph, written by Susan Nancarrow and Alan Borthwick, lies in the sociopolitical framework it provides in this area in the comparative context of Australia and the United Kingdom. The authors have unparalleled insight into the history and present operation of the often-neglected diverse range of health professions in these societies. In this light, we very much welcome this new addition to the Policy Press series on the sociology of the health professions – following books on Professional Health Regulation in the Public Interest and Support Workers and the Health Professions in International Perspective , with more commissioned work in process on subjects such as medical policy and dentistry on the international stage.