"Loader and Walker have well deserved reputations as being amongst the most thoughtful contemporary scholar writers on policing and security and this book will further enhance that standing. Given the current preoccupation with security, the need for a 'thickening' of the notion beyond the familiar coercive versus civil liberties frameworks could not be more pressing. Loader and Walker deftly unpick the complexities of the relationship between security and different understandings of the state and its functions. They also propose the development of a more rounded concept of security as a 'public good' and spell out in particular how what they term 'anchored pluralism' may contribute to a more grounded and progressive understanding of the term at the national and international level. An important and timely book which should be read will beyond the borders of criminology." -Professor Kieran McEvoy, Director, Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Queens University Belfast.