This is a clearly argued book, but unfortunately it's based on a dissertation and that really shows. The author criticizes six or seven different approaches to social evolution in some detail, but stops there. He doesn't have a personal, positive contribution to make and the general chapters at the beginning and end of the book are quite brief. Even in those chapters he resorts more to citing other authors than thinking for himself. Also, spending 100 pages on discussing the worthless evolutionary musings of Luhmann and Kappelhoff was excessive in my opinion. I would rather have read a more detailed criticism of meme theory with a more personal contribution from the author.