James C. Riley is Professor of History at Indiana University. He is the author of Poverty and Life Expectancy: The Jamaica Paradox (2005) and Rising Life Expectancy: A Global History (2001).

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• List of Illustrations Foreword by Daniel M. Fox and Samuel L. Milbank Preface and Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Life Expectancy and Income among the First Countries to Begin Health Transitions 2. Which Countries Should Be Studied? 3. A Colonizer and the Country Colonized: Japan and Korea 4. Very Low Income Is Not a Barrier: Sri Lanka 5. Two Neighbors: Panama and Costa Rica 6. Capitalism and Communism, Dictatorship and Democracy: Cuba and Jamaica 7. The Soviet and Chinese Models of Social Development 8. Oil-Rich Lands 9. The Latin American Case: Income Inequality and Health in Mexico 10. Limiting Mortality from Fecal Disease, Malaria, and Tuberculosis Conclusion Appendix: Chronology of Health Transitions and Gross Domestic Product per Capita in 167 Countries Notes Index