Informed by a wealth of available research, between 1997 and 2010, the UK Labour government introduced a raft of policies to reduce health inequalities. Despite this, by most measures, the UK's health inequalities have continued to widen. This failure has prompted calls for new approaches to health inequalities research and some consensus that public health researchers ought to be more actively involved in 'public health advocacy'. Yet there is currently no agreement as to what these new research agendas should be and despite multiple commentaries reflecting on recent UK efforts to reduce health inequalities, there has so far been little attempt to map future directions for research or to examine what more egalitarian policies means in practical terms.

Health Inequalities: Critical Perspectives addresses these concerns. It takes stock of the UK's experiences of health inequalities research and policy to date, reflecting on the lessons that have been learnt from these experiences, both within the UK and internationally. The book identifies emergent research and policy topics, exploring the perspectives of actors working in a range of professional settings on these agendas. Finally, the book considers potential ways of improving the links between health inequalities research, policy and practice, including via advocacy.

With contributions from established, international health inequalities experts and newer, up-and-coming researchers in the field, as well as individuals working on health inequalities in policy, practice and civil society settings, Health Inequalities: Critical Perspectives is a 'must buy' for researchers, postgraduate students, policymakers, practitioners, and research funders.

Katherine E. Smith, Reader, Global Public Health Unit, University of Edinburgh, UK,Clare Bambra, Professor of Public Health Geography, Centre for Health and Inequalities Research, Durham University,Sarah E. Hill, Senior Lecturer, Global Public Health Unit, University of Edinburgh, UK

Katherine Smith is a Reader at the Global Public Health Unit in the School of Social and Political Science at the University of Edinburgh. Her research focuses on analysing policies affecting public health (especially health inequalities) and better understanding the relationships between public health research, policy, advocacy and lobbying. Katherine recently brought some of this work together in a book entitled Beyond Evidence Based Policy in Public Health: The Interplay of Ideas, as part of a new book series, Palgrave Studies in Science, Knowledge and Policy, which she co-edits with Professor Richard Freeman. From January 2011-December 2012, Katherine held an MRC-ESRC Post-Doctoral Fellowship, followed by an ESRC Future Research Leaders award in 2013-2015.

Clare Bambra is Professor of Public Health Geography, Centre for Health and Inequalities Research, Durham University. Her research focuses on the health effects of labour markets, health and welfare systems, as well as the role of public policies to reduce health inequalities. She has published extensively in the field of health inequalities including a book on Work, Worklessness and the Political economy of Health (Oxford University Press, 2011). She contributed to the Marmot Review (2010); the European Commission's Health Inequalities in the EU report (2013); the US National Research Council Report on US Health in International Perspective (2013) as well as the Public Health England commissioned report on the health equity in the North of England: Due North (2014).

Sarah Hill is a Public Health Physician and Senior Lecturer at the Global Public Health Unit in the School of Social and Political Science at the University of Edinburgh. Her research focuses on health inequalities and the social determinants of health, tobacco and health, and global health. She is particularly interested in the structural drivers of health inequalities including historical and institutional discrimination and the role of commercial actors in non-communicable disease epidemics. Sarah joined the University of Edinburgh in 2009 having previously worked in research, public health and medicine in New Zealand, the USA, West Africa and the UK.

1. Background and introduction: UK experiences of health inequalities, Katherine Smith, Clare Bambra and Sarah Hill
2. Reflections on the legacy of British health inequalities research, Mel Bartley and David Blane
3. Nordic health inequalities: patterns, trends and polices, Espen Dahl and Kjetil A. van der Wel)
4. Reflections on the UK's Legacy of Health Inequalities Research and Policy from a North American Perspective, Dennis Raphael and Toba Bryant
5. Reflections on the UK legacy of health inequities research, from the perspective of low and middle income settings (LMICs), Johanna Hanefeld
6. Contrasting views on ways forward for health inequalities research, Katherine E. Smith and Kayleigh Garthwaite
7. Axes of health inequalities and intersectionality, Sarah Hill
8. Beyond 'health': why don't we tackle the cause of health inequalities?, Margaret Douglas
9. Neoliberalism and Health Inequalities, Chik Collins, Gerry McCartney and Lisa Garnham
10. Health Inequalities in England's Changing Public Health System, David J. Hunter and Linda Marks
11. The Equity Implications of Health System Change in the UK, Mark Hellowell and Maximilian Ralston
12. All in it together? Health Inequalities, Welfare Austerity and the 'Great Recession, Clare Bambra, Kayleigh Garthwaite, Alison Copeland and Ben Barr
13. Industrial epidemics and inequalities: The commercial sector as a structural driver of inequalities in non-communicable diseases, Sarah Hill and Jeff Collin
14. Place, space and health inequalities, Jamie Pearce, Rich Mitchell and Niamh Shortt
15. The politics of tackling inequalities: the rise of psychological fundamentalism in public health and welfare reform, Lynne Friedli
16. Knowledge of the everyday: confronting the causes of health inequalities, Eva Elliott, Jennie Popay and Gareth Williams)
17. Socio-structural violence against the poor, Jane Jones and Cathy McCormack
18. For the good of the cause: generating evidence to inform social policies that reduce health inequalities, Ben Barr, Clare Bambra and Katherine Smith
19. Influencing Policy with Research - Public Health Advocacy and Health Inequalities, Katherine Smith, Ellen Stewart, Peter Donnelly and Ben McKendrick
20. The Spirit Level: A Case Study of the Public Dissemination of Health Inequalities Research, Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson
21. Conclusion where next for advocates, researchers and policymakers trying to tackle health inequalities?, Katherine Smith, Sarah Hill and Clare Bambra