Leading researchers in the social sciences describe and explain the unequal chances of long and healthy life between social groups, ethnic groups, men and women and geographical areas.

Mel Bartley is Professor Emerita of Medical Sociology at University College London.

David Blane is Emeritus Professor in the School of Public Health at the Imperial School of Science Technology and Medicine.

George Davey-Smith is the editor of The Sociology of Health Inequalities, published by Wiley.