This is a most unusual and curious book. It took me quite a while to work out its frame of reference, relax and start to appreciate what it has to offer. Ultimately, I concluded that it challenges the lenses we commonly use to consider mental health in older people, making it quite a thought-provoking read. The editors, both senior lecturers in clinical psychology at the University of Limerick in Ireland, aim to present the reader with discussions of mental health issues in old age within the context of normal as well as problematic development across the lifespan. They are upfront about their intention to provide a collection of chapters that pay attention to understanding the positive and salutogenic aspects of ageing. These aims are achieved in part as we read about the potential of theories, such as Erikson's lifespan developmental theory, attachment theory and the dual process model of assimilative and accommodative coping, to shed light on thinking about matters such as adjusting to bereavement or to life in care. In this respect, the book succeeds in drawing these ways of thinking to the fore.

In other respects, when I was not finding the book fascinating, I found it frustrating. There are many spelling errors, a paucity of tables or figures (four in the entire volume) and considerable repetition between chapters, with population demographics and the basics of Erikson's theories being the main victims. It promises to appeal to students, educators, practitioners and policy-makers, yet its coverage of fundamental research evidence is often sketchy and sometimes superficial – the chapter on treatment of mental health issues, for example, tries to cover treatment of major conditions within sections of just 1–3 paragraphs each; that on carers fails to acknowledge the role of spouses; whereas that on assessment mistakenly cites the Mini-Mental State Examination as an assessment of mood. Students should not rely on this book for basic education in this field, nor should professionals rely on it for an update on the latest research or practice.

This book lacks polish but it is a bit of a rough diamond. I feel it needs to be read as a collection of interesting essays rather than as a conventional text.