"A highly general and speculative analysis of modernity that is challenging and thought-provoking. . . . This is the kind of book that confronts a discipline, in this case sociology, with a number of issues that can provide a formidable agenda for those who pursue them. . . . It is geared to a wide audience that seeks new insights into the questions modernity has generated."—Choice "Few contemporary social scientists bring more determination and talent to the daunting task of creating a new tradition than Anthony Giddens. Elements of virtually every classic and contemporary social scientific school and an impressive array of philosophical traditions, each critically assessed and modified, find a home in Giddens's paradigm. . . . Giddens's new beginning represents a significant step toward the regeneration of our discipline."—Contemporary Sociology "Provides a new and quite engaging perspective on the nature of modernity and its peculiar relationships to traditional social forms. Giddens is outstanding in the way that he is able to absorb the whole tradition of social thought since the time of the classical sociologists and to play various theorists off against one another as a means of defining his own argument. He builds not only upon the whole tradition, but upon his own earlier work."—Herbert Lindenberger, Stanford University

"A highly general and speculative analysis of modernity that is challenging and thought-provoking. . . . This is the kind of book that confronts a discipline, in this case sociology, with a number of issues that can provide a formidable agenda for those who pursue them. . . . It is geared to a wide audience that seeks new insights into the questions modernity has generated."—Choice "Few contemporary social scientists bring more determination and talent to the daunting task of creating a new tradition than Anthony Giddens. Elements of virtually every classic and contemporary social scientific school and an impressive array of philosophical traditions, each critically assessed and modified, find a home in Giddens's paradigm. . . . Giddens's new beginning represents a significant step toward the regeneration of our discipline."—Contemporary Sociology "Provides a new and quite engaging perspective on the nature of modernity and its peculiar relationships to traditional social forms. Giddens is outstanding in the way that he is able to absorb the whole tradition of social thought since the time of the classical sociologists and to play various theorists off against one another as a means of defining his own argument. He builds not only upon the whole tradition, but upon his own earlier work."—Herbert Lindenberger, Stanford University