The Sociology of Rural Communities brings together material from a wide range of sources to cover the key issues in this field.Following the editorial introduction, the collection deals in successive chapters with theories of rural society, historical communities, economic and social change, the social impact of geographical mobility, and social divisions, social conflicts and community development. The materials have been selected in order to include both classic articles and contemporary writings, and to convey the rich diversity of approaches which have been adopted in the study of rural society. Drawing from analyses of North America and Australasia as well as the UK and Continental Europe, the discussions highlight the centrality of analyses of rural community change for broader theories of social development.