Originally published in 1992, this book, written by one of the world's leading experts on Simmel, provides a fascinating set of insights into a thinker who is fast becoming recognized as the sociologist of modernity; an indispensible resource in confronting post-modernity. It examines the relevance of his work in relation to contemporary debates on culture, aesthetics and modernity.

Part I Societies and individuals 1. The study of society 2. Georg Simmel and social psychology Part II Into modernity 3. German sociologists and modernity 4. Simmel and the study of modernity 5. Some economic aspects of The Philosophy of Money 6. Social space, the city and the metropolis 7. Leisure and modernity 8. The aesthetics of modern life Part III Since Simmel 9. Modernity, postmodernity and things