Between the essay and the handbook: Book review of Rafael Muñoz de Bustillo Llorente, Mitos y realidades del Estado de Bienestar, Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 512 pages.

These pages present a book review of Rafael Muñoz de Bustillo’s Mitos y realidades del Estado de Bienestar. This work, a mixture of essay and handbook, complements traditional books of Public Economics and the new perspectives centered on policy evaluation. In contrast to previous literature, the author provides a deep analysis of the roots of the Welfare State, putting it in the context of historical mechanisms for protection against risk and dissects the main drivers of its surge and consolidation, elements to which our discipline has not devoted much effort. In addition to examine and contextualize the dimension and evolution of modern Welfare States, the main strength of the book consists in a meticulous analysis of this institution nowadays based on an exhaustive review of empirical evidence. In this way, this book constitutes a very valuable complement the undergraduate student in Economics and it is very likely to be welcomed in other majors like Sociology and Political Science.