Review of the hardback: 'This is the book that social policy scholars have been awaiting a very long time. Thanks to Ian Gough, Geof Wood and their collaborators, we now have a rigorous, comprehensive, and extraordinarily nuanced and subtle analysis of social protection systems in the Third World. The scholarly challenge is truly formidable, and they have met it with courage and aplomb. Insecurity and Welfare Regimes in Asia, Africa and Latin America is one of those rare books that no welfare state scholar or practicioner can ignore.' Gosta Esping-Andersen