Best SNA book ever

I just put down my new most favorite SNA book: Social Networks and Organizations, by Martin Kilduff and Wenpin Tsai.


What's so great about this book? Here are a few of my faves:

• Cover. (See above, and note how well it goes with my favorite colors.)
  
• Content. In the authors' words, "This book reflects our own view of what is important in social network research. Instead of providing just a review of existing research, we have opened up dialogue on a range of new approaches." Then they continue: "We think that debate and controversy are good for social science in that they encourage a more rapid development of theory and research."
• Readability. As the authors soar over the highlights of social network theory, they trace a clear historical arc with a wry tone that adds up to an academic page-turner. Along the way, they indulge my weakness for polite but merciless deflation of all puffed-up hot-air-bags in sight. I couldn't put it down!

I like this book so much that I am going to devote a series of posts to it. Each post will focus on a chapter. The chapters include:

1. Introduction
2. Understanding social network research
3. Is there social network theory?
4. Bridging the gap between structuralist and individualist approaches
5. Goal-directed and serendipitous network processes
6. Towards a poststructuralist network approach
7. Conclusion

As I write about each chapter, I will update the list above so that it links to the appropriate posts.

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