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This introductory text is the first volume in a new set of preliminary coursebooks in sociology, written by the Open University. It provides new terms for thinking about the subject and for teaching it effectively. The text examines the historical processes, institutions and ideas which have shaped twentieth-century societies. Its themes include the way in which the political, economic, social and cultural dimensions of modern industrialized societies developed, and focuses on the long historical transition to "modernity". In addition the authors return to the roots of modern social thought examining the classic ideas in which the development of modern societies has been conceptualized by the founding figures of sociology. Each chapter explores the relation between historical developments and the academic and litrary discourses about them, introducing students to the distinctive sociological perspectives. Particular attention is paid to introducing students to original texts, with readings from Hobbes, Locke, Marx, Freud and Levi Strauss, plus new work in historical sociology by Michael Mann, Bryan Turner, Anthony Giddens and Michel Foucault.