Sociology has established itself as the leading textbook in the field. The book has been acclaimed across the world for its lucidity, comprehensiveness and accessibility. The second edition of the text has been extensively revised and contains much new material. Throughout the book an effort has been made to secure the very latest empirical data and to present it in an attractive and involving way.As in the first edition, the author includes a diversity of areas of discussion which barely figure at all in other introductory texts in sociology. The book contains, for example, extended analyses of the 1989 revolutions in Eastern Europe and Russia, the upsurge of new forms of nationalism and ethnicity, the debate over the 'end of history' - as well as covering all the more orthodox areas of sociological work. The work maintains all the distinctive emphases which made it so widely used in its original form.It is strongly comparative and accentuates the essential importance of globalising influences upon social life. Combining originality, liveliness and accuracy, the second edition of this major text is indispensable reading for anyone wanting to gain an informed understanding of the nature of modern societies today.