Originally published over the past 20 years, the 38 papers collected in this two-volume set represent an overview of the core concerns of Eisenstadt (emeritus, sociology, Hebrew U. of Jerusalem, Israel) during this period axial civilizations (what Max Weber called the "world religions") and modernities. Having dealt with larger issues of theory in an earlier volume ( Power, Trust and Meaning , U. of Chicago Press, 1995), this volume concentrates more analysis, with sections exploring the role of religion in forming Japanese civilization and Western modernity, especially from a comparative perspective. Other sections take a somewhat more scattershot approach, discussing similar topics for Israel, India, and the Americas. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)