"Without doubt the most important piece of historical sociology since Max Weber." Richard Sennett, London School of Economics. "A modern classic of the first order." Lewis Coser. "Elias has all the boldness and sureness of touch of the old masters, of whom he is perhaps the last. Reading his pages one again and again makes the mental note that this or that point is worthy of a Max Weber ... One realises from a book like this that serious sociology must remain dependent on the insightful interpretation of history of just the kind that Elias provides." Bryan Wilson. "The most remarkable recent attempt to contain the social and the individual within a unified scheme of sociological analysis." Philip Abrams "The Civilizing Process is remarkable: eclectic, insightful and constantly surprising." Times Higher Education Supplement