Sage Publications. 2003. ISBN :
0761971734. (393 pages).
Contents : Foundations - Approaches - Themes.The title of this book is an aporia. "Handbook" implies that the volumes guides the reader toward the established and the known. Yet the volume is not the panoramic view of the contemporary practice of historical sociology, nor does it offer a comprehensive view of the field. Moreover, historical sociology occupies an ambiguous space between history and sociology. While it would be impossible to sum it up in a few sentences, one of its defining characteristics is a concern with the formation and transformation of modernity. In this respect the orientation of the historical sociology concerns the present, viewed as both shaped by and shaping the past.
