The essays contained in Max Weber: Critical Assessments (1) deal with the whole of the famous German sociologist's work. This four volume collection provides critical and analytical coverage of each of the central themes which contemporary sociology recognises in Weber's main published writings. As an aid to use by teachers and students, it has been organised in such a way that it corresponds with the major lines of Weber teaching. The essays reprinted here provide comprehensive analyses of the following themes: * Max Weber: Life, Work and Intellectual Context * Methodology: Verstehende Sociology * The Protestant Ethic Thesis * Economy and Society * Power and Authority * Bureaucracy * Sociology of Religion * Rationalisation * Philosophy of Social Science The collection is intended to provide a good thematic coverage of the chief features of Weber's writings, as recognised in the large body of scholarly literature developed over the last 70-80 years. The collection contains many classic articles of Weber scholarship, and traces the key features of the numerous debates over interpretation of the leading sociologist of the twentieth century. It includes those assessments of Weber's work which have themselves formed critical readings of his sociology for an international audience of scholars and students. All articles have been reprinted in their entirety, and thus contain a wealth of invaluable bibliographic source material. In order to help the reader review the chronological order of the articles, there is an appendix at the end of the General Commentary, listing each reprinted article, and indicating where it can be found in the four volume set.