Emile Durkheim is regarded as a founding father of sociology, and is studied in all basic sociology courses. There is, however, a distinct lack of a handy textbook to provide a satisfactory collection of the key passages from Durkheim's work.

Kenneth Thompson makes good that gap in the literature, providing a collection of modern and reliable translations from the sociologist's major works, De la division du travail social (1893), Les regales de la methode sociologique (1895), Le suicide (1897) and Les formes elementaires de la vie religieuse (1912). The text, a useful reference with in-depth coverage, will have a wide appeal to students of sociology at all levels.