T. B. Bottomore: Sociology. A Guide to Problems and Literature

The occasion for this book was a request to UNESCO from the Indian National Commission for UNESCO, for the preparation of a guide to sociology which would present sociological concepts, theories and methods in relation to the culture and institutions of Indian society. Such a book, it was thought, would provide a better introduction to the subject for Indian students than the existing textbooks, which deal very largely with the Western societies.
When the Social Sciences Department of UNESCO invited me to write the book I accepted readily. In the first place, I had already a general interest in the under-developed countries and in the social changes accompanying their industrialization; and I was particularly interested in the economic and social development of India. Moreover, I considered that an attempt to set out the principles and methods of sociology in their bearing upon the study of Indian society might be illuminating not only for Indian students, but for others.