Sociology, 9th Edition Paperback – 26 Mar. 2021

This books has very clear information without being too complicated. I am currently studying at A level. All the chapters go over critical analysis of different theories etc. The best part for me is actually the end of the chapters, it points you in the direction of good further reading and documentaries which are great if you need to wind down and don't want to read anymore. Honestly get this book if you're starting in Sociology or if you're starting an A level!

Useful for my college assignments

I got it for school and it came as described

This is by far the best sociology books you can buy. Gives excellent samples and referencing.

A huge, comprehensive and well-illuisrated textbook that would be a "bible" for any A-Level student or undergraduate. Giddens and Sutton are now at their 9th edition of this standard text and have fully updated it to reflect key issues like globalisation, the digital revolution, the COVID pandemic and identity issues. It starts with the hardy perennials of Durkheim. Marx and Weber but develops into detailed issues based text with themes guiding each chapter.There are good summaries of the works of key authors. For example, those not wishing to plough through Immanuel Walerstein's huge volumes on world-systems theory will find a nice straightforward analysis of his writing. Equally the same applies to the work of Manuel Castells on the relationship between social movements and the internet age through the notion of ‘the networked social movement’.One slight problem with the book has nothing to do with the content but stems from its sheer size at over 1000 pages. It is an absolute beast to hold and frankly would be all the better being printed into separate two volumes. Setting aside this complaint this book does act as an effective one-stop-shop for students. It poses potential essay questions and helpfully highlights key debates whether ion politics, environmentalism et al. It is therefore highly recommended.

Easy read, comprehensive version of book read in early 90’s.

Absolute sociology Bible for university

Giddens has pretty much been the standard text in sociology, for a long time, at least this was beginning to be recognized as the case when I studied sociology as a module on a social policy degree more than twenty years past. This text deserves to be considered standard given that it is so comprehensive, its also accessible, in my opinion, with a good index, contents, structure and pace and style of narrative across all the various topics.It is going to be useful to any student, without a doubt, and the index and contents makes it easier to find exactly what you are looking for if your primary aim is reading for references and citations for essays. It is a text which I think would prove to be of value to the complete beginner and more advanced readers too. The text does manage to deal with all the classics (possibly all the cliches) but also some of the more recent findings and perspectives as sociology struggles to maintain its relevance academically (or as an applied theory, which there is not a lot of consideration given to at times).There are some aspects of the text which I think could be better, although this could be more of a reflection of my own reading and interests when it comes to sociology. I would like some more space dedicated to micro-sociology, the sociology of everyday life, minority-majority relations as I understand them with respect to social norms and mores (or the contested nature of them, consciously and unconsciously). These are areas which are not really explored as I would hope they would be, personal life remains the purvey of psychology and social psychology, pretty much, while sociology has restricted itself to social institution (or possibly convention).Its a shame as its a long time since writers like Erich Fromm theorized about a "social character" spawned by the need of society and economy to reproduce itself, not all of them were as explicit as Fromm in putting sociology in the vanguard of their thinking but all the same. I dont particularly consider it the material of "advanced texts", or post-grad studies, since it is by no means a recent theory innovation, so much as a marginalized idea (cast away with the Cold War).Anyway, a really good student text, unlikely to appeal much to readers beyond academia, although the findings and theories it does contain are liable to be useful to people in a variety of contexts (as sociology tends to be useful to people beyond sociologists). Recommended.