The book covers theories of the early history of the field as well as its most recent developments from ancient thinkers such as Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber and so on.

• 本书在内容上涵盖了自马克思、涂尔干和韦伯等古典社会学家以来至本书各版出版时为止西方社会学理论当中最主要的社会学家和社会学理论流派的理论观点。