The history of sociology -- outside of accounts of the thought and influence of such founding figures as Marx, Durkheim and Weber -- remains relatively little examined. With an increasing emphasis on the globalization of research and knowledge, there is a growing need for scholars to understand the context of disciplinary development in other countries. In this book an international team of authors consider the nature of sociology and its development in a range of countries. Concentrating on the period since 1945, they show how the intellectual and institutional history of sociology has varied widely. Key differences in the nature of sociology -- the stress on quantitative methods in American sociology, the growing influence of social philosophy on British and other Western European works, and the specific features of the discipline in the socialist and in the developing countries -- are exposed and assessed. The book will be essential reading for scholars in the history and theory of sociology and for all those interested in the comparative understanding of social scientific research.