Divided into two 4 volume sets, this collection provides a complete guide to social theory from 1700 to the present day. Each set is divided around eight essential issues which are of core concern to social theory: social action and basic processes of interaction; social institutions; social structure; social representations; social change; theoretical orientations; problems in the philosophy of social sciences; sociology's reflections upon itself and its relations with other social sciences.

The collections are designed to show how thinking in social theory has changed since 1700 on all of these essential issues and to give a comprehensive and concise guide to the main issues. The editors provide a collection which distils the essence of the key questions so that researchers and advanced students will need to look no further for a guide to the essentials in social theory.