Talcott Parsons has been one of the most influential American sociologists of the postwar period. Bryan Turner's selections from Parsons' work provide a comprehensive overview of his principal contributions and are grouped under the following subdivisions: religion and modern society; life, sex, and death; sociological theory; and American society and the world order.

These selections offer an exposition of the core features of Parsons' sociology and demonstrate his continuing relevance to critical issues today, including globalization, the place of American civilization in the world order, and the importance of sociological theory as an analysis of modern culture.

The editor is Professor of Sociology at the University of Cambridge. He has held professional positions in Australia, Holland, and Germany, and his research areas are medical sociology, citizenship, and social theory. He has published numerous papers and books on the social thought of Talcott Parsons. Previous publications with Blackwell include The Body and Society (1984) and The Blackwell Companion to Social Theory (1996; second edition 2000). He is the foundation editor of the journal Citizenship Studies.