Sarah Tomley

The Sociology Book Review
The Sociology Book by DK features the ground-breaking work of Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber. Marx and Durkheim use facts, figures, and statistics to support their theories, while Weber’s studies were of a qualitative nature. Other notable sociologists and their ideas that were presented are Ibn Khaldun, Harold Garfinkel, Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, Friedrich Engels, Alexis de Tocqueville, and W.E.B. Du Bois.
This book covers the foundations of sociology, social equalities, and modern living. It extrapolates on living in a global world, culture and identity, work and consumerism, the role of institutions, and families and intimacies. Of interest is the idea that societies have evolved from agricultural communities to the Industrial Revolution - division of labor, and mechanization, to being impacted by globalism with international corporations and New Technologies. Families are not as patriarchal as they used to be with fathers as the sole bread-winners, and moms’ place being in the home. Presently, there are traditional and same-sex marriages, and single families no longer only living in rural environments, but are dispersed in urban centers around the world. But the wealthy nations predominate with the Northern countries being more affluent than the Southern.… (more)

100 Events That Made History is a fun and vibrant accounting of the most important historical events all over the world. I really appreciated the simple structure of the book where four overriding themes (Social Firsts, Battles and Brawls, All Change and Amazing Achievements) made it easily accessible and highly readable. 100 Events That Made History is shaped by pertinent questions asked about each event (one or two pages) the most important being "how it changed the world." This gives clarity to each event and how it formed modern history. The lively and beautiful pictures in the book will enable even the youngest readers to connect to the material in a fresh and entertaining way.

Thank you to DK Penguin Random House Publishers and Edelweiss for allowing me to review this book for an honest opinion.… (more)