Book excerpt: The Routledge Handbook of Events explores and critically evaluates the debates and controversies associated with the rapidly expanding domain of Event Studies. It brings together leading specialists from a range of disciplinary backgrounds, to provide a state-of-the-art review on the evolution of the subject. The first edition was a landmark study which examined how event research had evolved and developed from a range of different social science subject areas and disciplines. The Handbook was the first critique of the extent to which the subject had developed into a major area of social science inquiry. This second edition has been fully updated to reflect crucial developments in the field and includes brand new sections on ever-important aspects of Event Studies such as: anthropology, hospitality, seasonality, knowledge management, accessibility, diversity and human rights, as well as new studies on ‘the eventful city’ and the benefits of events in older life. The book is divided into four inter-related sections. Section 1 introduces and evaluates the concept of events. Section 2 critically reviews the relationship between events and other disciplines such as the contribution of economics, psychology and geography to the critical discourse of Event Studies. Section 3 focuses on the business, operational and strategic management of events, while the final section crucially focuses on critical events as a new paradigm within the burgeoning literature on Events. It offers the reader a comprehensive and critical synthesis of this field, conveying the latest thinking associated with events research, edited by two of the leading scholars in the field. The text will provide an invaluable resource for all those with an interest in Events Studies, encouraging dialogue that will span across disciplinary boundaries and other areas of study. It is an essential guide for anyone interested in events research.