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Rating: 
Summary: Finally A Distillation of Sociology's Major Theories!
Review: Collins' work is a must for the serious scholar of sociology. He is able to "boil-down" the four major theories in sociology, without resorting to the confounding language of the original authors. This work succinctly outlines the four major theories and gives some of the more lucid quotes of the "fathers" of classical theory. Finally a sociology text that does not presume familiarity with the subject matter.
Rating:
Summary: Finally A Distillation of Sociology's Major Theories!
Review: Collins' work is a must for the serious scholar of sociology. He is able to "boil-down" the four major theories in sociology, without resorting to the confounding language of the original authors. This work succinctly outlines the four major theories and gives some of the more lucid quotes of the "fathers" of classical theory. Finally a sociology text that does not presume familiarity with the subject matter.
Rating: 
Summary: More History than Theory
Review: I found this book a bit disappointing. Collins provides a lot of information, but the book isn't very well organized and doesn't often clearly outline the theories. I recommend instead Ken Morrison's "Marx, Durkheim, Weber: Formations of Modern Social thought" for a good breakdown of early sociological theory.
Rating:
Summary: Introduces the world to schools of thought
Review: The history of sociological theory is not exactly the most facinating course material. Even if you have a great instructor, the basic content is both dry and monotone.
By intergrating questions of social justice into this text, Collins draws in current day readers. Far from being stodgy, Sociologists/sociologists in the making were some of the world's most visible radicals during their time.
Rating:
Summary: More History than Theory
Review: This was my first book on sociology, and I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed Collins' description of the branches that compose modern sociology and the frontiers of knowledge in the field. As an economist, I was especially interested in the "rational" school, and was not disappointed. Of course many of the scholar transcend economics and sociology (Herbert Simon, Mancur Olson), but I found it interesting to see concepts that I had treated as predominantly economic from a different perspective. Also interesting to read about Marx in the context of all other who followed him in the "conflict" tradition. This book is great for those who would like to have an overall good knowledge of sociology without spending the time to read the actual founders of the field's works.
Rating:
Summary: First sociology book for social scientists
Review: This was my first book on sociology, and I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed Collins' description of the branches that compose modern sociology and the frontiers of knowledge in the field. As an economist, I was especially interested in the "rational" school, and was not disappointed. Of course many of the scholar transcend economics and sociology (Herbert Simon, Mancur Olson), but I found it interesting to see concepts that I had treated as predominantly economic from a different perspective. Also interesting to read about Marx in the context of all other who followed him in the "conflict" tradition. This book is great for those who would like to have an overall good knowledge of sociology without spending the time to read the actual founders of the field's works.
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