Read everything by Richard Wilkinson and think how it relates to Geoffrey Rose 'Strategies for Preventive Medicine'.

This book was helpful in some ways, but I was looking for something more on a national scope, and Wilkinson does more on the international level. Still it a fine read, more than a bit "academic" but readable, even for a novice.

Why do people in more unequal societies have worse health and shorter lives? And why are levels of violence higher and community life weaker where there is more inequality? In this book, pioneering social epidemiologist Richard Wilkinson shows how inequality affects social relations and well-being. In wealthy countries, health is not simply a matter of material circumstances and access to health care; it is also how your relationships and social standing make you feel about life. Using detailed evidence from rich market democracies, the book addresses people's experience of inequality and presents a radical theory of the psychosocial impact of class stratification. The book demonstrates how poor health, high rates of violence and low levels of social capital all reflect the stresses of inequality and explains the pervasive sense that, despite material success, our societies are sometimes social failures. What emerges is a new conception of what it means to say that we are social beings and of how the social structure penetrates our personal lives and relationships.

Many people would agree that great inequality is immoral. But how many would know that inequality also have a big impact on people’s health? Not that many I would assume. This is a book that could potentially change people’s world view. To label people "simply jealous" if they oppose inequality will no longer cut. To have some people envying you is one thing, to condemn them to shorter life expectancy is quite another. Unfortunately the findings in this book are still very much unknown to many people. ( )

Read everything by Richard Wilkinson and think how it relates to Geoffrey Rose 'Strategies for Preventive Medicine'.