Textbook of Global Health Anne-Emanuelle Birn, Yogan Pillay, and Timothy H. Holtz. Fourth edition. Oxford University Press, 2017. 674 pp. $85.00 (hardcover).

For those seeking a clinical introduction to diseases encountered internationally, this is not your book. For the thoughtful undergraduate or graduate student interested in understanding the complex political, social, and environmental drivers of health disparities worldwide, this is for you. In fact, this insightful, well-researched, comprehensive textbook should be required reading for anyone working in global health. The authors, renowned scholars and practitioners, cover a range of material from the local to the international level in low- and high-income countries alike. The first section covers the history of the field (commenting on significant events, policies, and other factors that have shaped health over the years), dominant ideologies, key governmental and nongovernmental organizations, measures and patterns of disease, and social determinants of health. The next section focuses on health economics, a comparison of healthcare systems in different countries, and the impact of crisis conditions (eg, war, terrorism) and environmental changes on health. The final chapters address ethical considerations for global health work and a way forward for the field.