Modernity: An Introduction to Modern Societies is a newsociology textbook which provides a comprehensive and stimulatingintroduction to the history, sociology and ideas of modern society.It has been written for students and readers who have no priorknowledge of sociology, and is designed to be used in a variety ofsocial science courses in universities and colleges. The book is divided into three parts, corresponding to theformation, consolidation and prospects of modernity. From thestart, four major social processes are identified: the social, thecultural, the political, and the economic. These form the basis ofthe four chapters in Part 1, and organize the narrative or'story-line' of the rest of the text. In Part 2, they provide theframework for an analyis of what developed industrial societieslook like and how they work. And in Part 3,they provide the basisfor identifying the emergent social forces and contradictoryprocesses which are radically re-shaping modern societiestoday. This is the widest-ranging introduction to the nature of modernsocieties and will be invaluable to introductory andpost-introductory students of sociology.