We are living today in a rapidly ageing society, but many ?older= people don=t really feel that they are ?old= at all. Ageing has many facets and is perhaps the most enigmatic phase of life. This introductory volume in the series ?Living a Long Life | Shaping the Ageing Process= uses current research on ageing to indicate different ways of interpreting the demands and contradictions involved in growing older. On the basis of these findings, the book offers many suggestions for ways of dealing with central questions that arise not only for older people, but also for people of all ages.

Prof. Hans-Werner Wahl, psychologist, gerontologist, University of Heidelberg. Prof. Hans Förstl, neurologist and psychiatry/geriatrics physician, Technical University of Munich. Prof. Ines Himmelsbach, educational studies scholar, gerontologist, Catholic University of Freiburg. Prof. Elisabeth Wacker, sociologist, theologian, Technical University of Munich and Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy, Munich.