This book looks at a range of sociological theories from the last two hundred years, along with five fundamental questions such as: what is the unit of analysis in sociology and what concepts of structure are embedded in the sociological view of the social world, and how have these concepts changed over time? With illustrations from the work of theorists such as John Stuart Mill, Emile Durkheim, Talcott Parsons, Karl Marx, Karl Mannheim, Michel Foucault, Anthony Giddens and Erving Goffman, this book provides an accessible guide for introductory students of sociology taking their first course in sociological theory.