Ageing is a timebomb. We celebrate our greater longevity, yet few of us consider its consequences. This book is an important warning that unless Europeans defuse its explosive force, within two decades our societies will be devastated by it.

The hard fact is that because our political economies have been built around shorter lifespans, they risk being blown apart by ageing. The pressures exerted by the over-60s, who are increasing from today's quarter of the population to a third, will upend our politics and impoverish our young.

Millennials and Gen-Zers are already saddled with their elders' runaway pension and healthcare costs, but are themselves poorer and less privileged. Merritt, a veteran analyst of the European scene, traces the demographic projections that politicians of all persuasions have long ignored, and shines a harsh light on policy shortcomings that must be urgently addressed.

For anyone wants a stake in our future, this book is essential reading which clarifies the political choices to be made if comparatively prosperous and civilised Europe isn't to die of old age.