The book is divided into three parts, corresponding to the formation, consolidation and prospects of modernity. From the start, four major social processes are identified: the social, the cultural, the political, and the economic. These form the basis of the four chapters in Part 1, and organize the narrative or 'story-line' of the rest of the text. In Part 2, they provide the framework for an analyis of what developed industrial societies look like and how they work. And in Part 3,they provide the basis for identifying the emergent social forces and contradictory processes which are radically re-shaping modern societies today. This is the widest-ranging introduction to the nature of modern societies and will be invaluable to introductory and post-introductory students of sociology.