We live in a world that is paradoxically small and vast: each of us is embedded in local communities and yet we are only a few 'links' away from anyone else in the world.

This engaging book represents these interdependencies' positive and negative consequences, their multiple effects and the ways in which a local occurrence in one part of the world can directly affect the rest. Then it demonstrates precisely how these interactions and relationships form.

This is a book for the social network novice on learning how to study, think about and analyse social networks; the intermediate user, not yet familiar with some of the newer developments in the field; and the teacher looking for a range of exercises, as well as an up-to-date historical account of the field.

It is divided into three sections:

1. Historical & Background Concepts

2. Levels of Analysis

3. Advances, Extensions and Conclusions

The book provides a full overview of the field - historical origins, common theoretical perspectives and frameworks; traditional and current analytical procedures and fundamental mathematical equations needed to get a foothold in the field.