<P><B></B>Using a concise and easy-to-understand style, this guide provides an integrated approach to the implications of social class, race and ethnicity, and gender—explaining how each relates to economic, social, and political inequality. Its straightforward perspective views the considerations of race and gender as central to a full appreciation of the composition and dynamics of class systems. A significant and effective organization incorporates fresh conceptualizations, new research findings, and census data, with the fundamentals of social stratification. <B></B> <B>Five-part organization:</B> <I>Part I</I> gives a broad overview and introduction to the field; <I>Part II</I> provides an expanded discussion of the evolution and institutionalization of industrial class systems; <I>Part III</I> covers the basic elements of inequality: economics, prestige, and politics; <I>Part Four</I> includes separate chapters on life chances and lifestyles as well as class consciousness; and <I>Part V</I> offers an exploration of social mobility. <B></B> As a useful reference for professionals in the fields of sociology, social problems, or race and minorities/gender. <P> For undergraduate courses in Social Stratification, Race, Class, and Gender, and Introduction to Gender Studies. </P>