George Davey Smith is Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Bristol. He has contributed extensively to the health inequalities literature, particularly from a lifecourse perspective.

• Section I: Patterns of health inequality; Health inequalities in Britain: continuing increases up to the end of the 20th century ~ Davey Smith, Dorling, Mitchell and Shaw, 2002; Shrinking areas and mortality ~ Davey Smith, Dorling and Shaw, 1998; Population change and mortality in men and women ~ Davey Smith, Shaw and Dorling, 2001; Area-based measures of social and economic circumstances: cause-specific mortality patterns depend on the choice of index ~ Davey Smith, Whitley, Dorling and Gunnell, 2001; Socioeconomic differentials in mortality risk among men screened for the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial: Part I - results for 300,685 white men ~ Davey Smith, Wentworth, Neaton, Stamler and Stamler, 1996; Socioeconomic differentials in mortality risk among men screened for the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial: Part II - results for 20,224 black men ~ Davey Smith, Neaton, Wentworth, Stamler and Stamler, 1996; Individual social class, area-based deprivation, cardiovascular disease risk-factors and mortality: the Renfrew and Paisley study ~ Davey Smith, Hart, Watt, Hole and Hawthorne, 1998; Is control at work the key to socioeconomic gradients in mortality? ~ Davey Smith and Harding, 1997; Section II: Voting and mortality; "I'm all right John": voting patterns and mortality in England and Wales, 1981-92 ~ Davey Smith and Dorling, 1996; Association between voting patterns and mortality remains ~ Davey Smith and Dorling, 1997; Analysis of trends in premature mortality by Labour voting in the 1997 General Election ~ Dorling, Davey Smith and Shaw, 2001; Section III: The Whitehall Study; Magnitude and causes of socioeconomic differentials in mortality: further evidence from the Whitehall Study ~ Davey Smith, Shipley and Rose, 1990; Confounding of occupation and smoking: its magnitude and consequences ~ Davey Smith and Shipley, 1991; Socioeconomic differentials in cancer among men ~ Davey Smith, Leon, Shipley and Rose, 1991; Section IV: Health and lifetime social circumstances: the Collaborative Study; Lifetime socioeconomic position and mortality: prospective observational study ~ Davey Smith, Hart, Blane, Gillis and Hawthorne, 1997; Education and occupational social class: which is the more important indicator of mortality risk? ~ Davey Smith, Hart, Hole, MacKinnon, Gillis, Watt, Blane and Hawthorne, 1998; Adverse socioeconomic conditions in childhood and cause-specific adult mortality: prospective observational study ~ Davey Smith, Hart, Blane and Hole, 1998; Socioeconomic factors as determinants of mortality ~ Davey Smith and Hart, 1998; Lifecourse socioeconomic and behavioural influences on cardiovascular disease: the Collaborative Study; ~ Davey Smith and Hart, 2002; Section V: Further lifecourse influences on health; Social circumstances in childhood and cardiovascular disease mortality: prospective observational study of Glasgow University students ~ Davey Smith, McCarron, Okasha and McEwen, 2001; Childhood socioeconomic position and adult cardiovascular mortality: the Boyd Orr cohort ~ Frankel, Davey Smith and Gunnell, 1999; Height and risk of death among men and women: aetiological implications of associations with cardiorespiratory disease and cancer mortality ~ Davey Smith, Hart, Upton, Hole, Gillis, Watt and Hawthorne, 2000; Leg length, insulin resistance, and coronary heart disease risk: the Caerphilly Study ~ Davey Smith, Greenwood, Gunnell, Sweetnam, Yarnell and Elwood, 2001; Section VI: Ethnicity and health inequalities; Ethnic inequalities in health: a review of UK epidemiological evidence ~ Davey Smith, Chaturvedi, Harding, Nazroo and Williams, 2000; Learning to live with complexity: ethnicity, socioeconomic position, and health in Britain and the US ~ Davey Smith, 2000; Mortality differentials between black and white men in the US: contribution of income and other risk factors among men screened for the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial (MRFIT) ~ Davey Smith, Neaton, Wentworth, Stamler and Stamler, 1998; Section VII: Diversions; Socioeconomic differentials in the mortality of pets: probably reflect the same differences in material circumstances as in their owners ~ Davey Smith and Bonnett, 1998; Death in Hollywood: life-style excess, social comparisons or publication bias? ~ Davey Smith, 2001; Sex and death: are they related? Findings from the Caerphilly Cohort Study ~ Davey Smith, Frankel and Yarnell, 1997; Health, health services and health politics in Britain: 1952-2002-2052 ~ Davey Smith, 2002; Section VIII: Health inequalities - past and present; Socioeconomic differentials in mortality: evidence from Glasgow graveyards ~ Davey Smith, Carroll, Rankin and Rowan, 1992; The ghost of Christmas past: the health effects of poverty in London in 1896 and 1991 ~ Dorling, Mitchell, Shaw, Orford and Davey Smith, 2000; Does early nutrition affect later health? Views from the 1930s and 1980s ~ Davey Smith and Kuh, 1996; Section IX: Social inequality and population health; Income inequality and mortality: why are they related? ~ Davey Smith, 1996; Understanding it all: health, meta-theories, and mortality trends; ~ Davey Smith and Egger, 1996; Section X: Reducing health inequalities, now and in the future; The widening health gap: what are the solutions? ~ Davey Smith, Dorling, Gordon and Shaw, 1999; Inequalities in health: what is happening and what can be done? ~ Davey Smith and Ben-Shlomo, 1997; How policy informs the evidence - 'evidence-based' thinking can lead to debased policy making ~ Davey Smith, Ebrahim and Frankel, 2001; Rationing for health equity: is it necessary? ~ Davey Smith, Frankel and Ebrahim, 2000; Afterword: Still wanting to be James Dean ~ George Davey Smith.

"This book will become a classic for those interested in health inequalities." Jenny Roberts, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine