William Graham Sumner is remembered primarily as an opponent of government intervention in social and economic issues. Focusing on Folkways (1906), this book examines Sumner's fundamental work as a comparative ethnographer with an appreciation for the rules and rituals that regulate everyday behavior.

In Folkways, Sumner developed classifications and an array of sociological concepts that continue to influence the discipline today. This new book presents key excerpts from Folkways as well as three of Sumner's other classic essays. It also includes five...