This article presents a study of all editions from 1949 to 2003 of British introductory sociological textbooks intended for university use. The market is described and related to institutional changes, and characteristics of the authors and the types of text produced are sketched. It is shown how the texts have changed in bulk and character over time; their explicit or implicit pedagogical strategies are considered, and their uses in a context of traditional hostility to textbooks are discussed. Typical areas of substantive and theoretical content, and their changes over time, are outlined. Finally, it is considered to what extent they are distinctively British.
Goldthorpe, John E. (1968, 1974, 1985) Introduction to Sociology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
20.
Haralambos, Micheal (and various co-authors) (1980, 1985, 1990 , 1995, 2000) Sociology: Themes and Perspectives. London: Collins Educational .
21.
Hurd, Geoffrey, Ashton, D.N., Brown, R.K., Dunning, E., Jewson, N.D., Johnson, T.J., McIntosh, M. and Zubaida, S. (1973, 1986) Human Societies. London : Routledge.
22.
Inkeles, Alex (1964) What Is Sociology?Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
23.
Jenkins, Richard (2002) Foundations of Sociology. Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan.
24.
Lee, David and Newby, Howard (1983) The Problem of Sociology. London : Hutchinson.
25.
Lynch, Michael and Bogen, David (1997) `Sociology's Asociological “Core”: An Examination of Textbook Sociology in Light of the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge', American Sociological Review62: 481—93.
26.
Macionis, John J. and Plummer, Ken (1998, 2002) Sociology: A Global Introduction. Harlow: Prentice Hall.
27.
MacRae, Donald G. (1976) `Who Reads a Sociology Textbook?', EncounterXLVI: 3: 69—73.
28.
Marsh, Ian (ed.) (1996, 2000) Sociology: Making Sense of Society: An Introduction to Sociology. London: Longman.
29.
Mitchell, G. Duncan (1959, 1970) Sociology: The Study of Social Systems. London: University Tutorial Press.
30.
Orenstein, David M. (2001) `Defining Sociology: An Analysis of Contemporary American Textbook Definitions of the Field of Sociology', paper presented at the British Sociological Association annual meeting.
31.
Oromaner, M. (1980) `Influentials in Sociological Textbooks and Journals, 1955 and 1970', The American Sociologist15: 169—74.
32.
Peil, Margaret (1977) Consensus and Conflict in African Societies. Harlow: Longman.
33.
Perrucci, Robert (1980) `Sociology and the Introductory Textbook', The American Sociologist15: 39—49.
34.
Ritzer, George (1988) `Problems, Scandals and the Possibility of “Textbookgate” . . . `, Teaching Sociology16: 373—80.
35.
Shaw, Martin (1974) Marxism Versus Sociology: A Guide to Reading. London: Pluto Press.
36.
Sprott, W.H.J. (1949, 1957) Sociology, London: Hutchinson, Home University Library.
37.
Spybey, Tony (ed.) (1997) Britain in Europe: An Introduction to Sociology. London: Routledge.
38.
Talib, Ameen Ali (2001) `The Continuing Behavioural Modification of Academics since the 1992 RAE', Higher Education Review33(3): 30—46.
39.
Thompson, J.B. (2005) Books in the Digital Age. Cambridge : Polity Press.
40.
Turner, Stephen P. and Turner, Jonathan H. (1990) The Impossible Science . Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
41.
Worsley, Peter, Bechhofer, F., Brown, R., Jefferys, M., McIntosh, M., Newby, H., Rex, J., Sharrock, W., Young, J. and Young, M. (1987) The New Introducing Sociology. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
42.
Worsley, Peter, Fitzhenry, R., Clyde Mitchell, J., Morgan, D.H.J., Pons, V., Roberts, B., Sharrock, W.W. and Ward, R. (1970, 1977) Introducing Sociology. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
