The storied realms of exceptional longevity are scrutinised in this volume. The vast majority of reputed centenarians in the past, and most countries even today, lived less than 100 years. On the other hand, the number of genuine long-livers is exploding and a substantial proportion of current new-borns in developed countries may survive to celebrate their 100th birthday. Extremely few of our grandparents endured a century but centenarians may be commonplace among our grandchildren. This volume explains and documents these assertions, with research that melds judicious scepticism and painstaking scholarship with intellectual excitement about the advancing frontier of survival.