The Evolution of Educational Thought is Durkheim's single most ambitious and comprehensive work of historical sociological analysis. The book traces the development of French education from its origins in the early church up through the nineteenth century, combining in one integral study an inquiry into educational philosophies, doctrines, and discourses of curriculum and pedagogy. The Evolution of Educational Thought is a case study in the making of the modern world and of the moral challenges that face it, a contribution to the historical sociology of morality that uses the educational sphere as its institutional grounding. In a new introductory essay written especially for this edition, Mustafa Emirbayer argues that this neglected masterpiece by one of the founders of sociology ranks as one of his most challenging and provocative works. He shows how its republication after decades of relative obscurity will add new dimensions to current debates in historical and educational sociology and shed new light on the moral problems and dilemmas of modern societies.