Even though only (albeit a substantial) part of the book appears relevant to health and social care professionals, I enjoyed reading not only the chapters more geared to my discipline but also the ones written for readers from fields such as education, criminal‐justice and transport – written by experts in their fields. Indeed, I would not put off buyers and borrowers from reading seemingly less relevant chapters since there are some interesting points that add insight into evidence‐based decision making in more familiar territory. Moreover, achieving modernised “joined‐up” public service management makes comprehensive reading an imperative. Implicit in the latter is how up‐to‐date issues are addressed in the book. Indeed, the Forword's claim that the text is state‐of‐the‐art is not a wild one. The reasons for the book's contemporary and highly relevant feel is not only because of the authors’ grasp of their specialities but also because the text emerged from a major seminar followed by a series of articles on which the book is built.
As one might expect, at almost 400 pages, the book covers many theoretical and practical issues surrounding evidence‐based policy and practice. The 16 chapters draw not only on empirical data and outputs from “think tanks” but also a range of publications, including systematic reviews and government policy documents. Indeed, one spin‐off is a catalogue of broad‐range evidence‐based literature sources. A slight downside, which is forgivable due to a difficult co‐ordinating task, is that authors do not use common frameworks (an increasingly common feature of modern edited books) so readers may have to make some connections themselves. On the upside, readers may be surprised to read such extensive accounts of qualitative and quantitative approaches to evidence‐based decision making.
In short, the qualitative and quantitative creation, confirmation, dissemination and application of evidence to inform public service policy and practice, is comprehensively covered. Health and social care managers, practitioners, educators and academics will find the book timely and inexpensive, but a high‐quality resource.
