"No other commentator had interpreted Weber's 'irrationality problem' with such well-documented perceptions and imaginative explications .... combining a sensitivity to the elusive, yet telling, detail; a relaxed, digressive style;, and a deep erudition.... [Sica] has accomplished a great deal by making irrationality theoretically germane. Studies of the masters of social thought rarely fuse textual and contemporary horizons so well." --Ira J. Cohen, American Political Science Review

"An excellent book.... Everyone who likes good theory and admires fine scholarship should read this book. The experience is like looking over the shoulder of a very good poker player who loses a hand now and then but even in failure teaches and fascinates." --Charles Lemert, American Journal of Sociology

"Sica has written an intriguing book that sheds much light on Weber and his legacy .... [and] is refreshingly first-personal, and remarkably free of sociologese." --Robert N. Proctor, Isis

"There is much of interest in this book. It is written from a perspective that recognises the importance of re-reading the classics of social thought so that they can be situated within intellectual currents broader than those currently fashionable." --Peter Lassman, Sociology

Alan Sica is Professor of Sociology at the Pennsylvania State University.