Five reasons to buy. First, it is short. Secondly, it is packed with facts about the health status of the world. I personally will be using the many powerful quotations and facts in future talks. Thirdly, it is written by the man who for five years ran the NHS – the world's biggest healthcare organisation.

Crisp knows the issues facing healthcare in the richest and poorest countries. Commissioned by Tony Blair to visit as many places as he could, to talk to healthcare givers, receivers, planners and managers, he has listened to the needs and stories of hundreds, and quotes them widely. He is able to take a sensitive issue, eg the emigration of doctors from poor to rich countries, look at it from all sides, then discuss it concisely and objectively.

Fourthly, he does what the title promises: he rejects constraints inherent in traditional methods of delivering healthcare and turns the donor-recipient relationship upside down. Finally, he offers suggestions as to how all countries in the 21st century can work together, learning from each other as we address global need in healthcare, and the social, political and economic inequalities that accompany it.