Norbert Elias: Civilization, and the human self-image

Norbert Elias is one of the most important intellectual figures of the 20th century. His pioneering work "The Civilizing Process" traces the "civilizing" of manners and personality in Western Europe since the late Middle Ages, showing how that was related to the formation of states and monopolization of power within them. Stephen Mennell's own work, including "All Manners of Food", is informed by Elias's approach to the study of society, and in this book, he provides a critical study of the characteristics and development of Elias's thought and traces its influence on recent European sociology.