Kadushin synthesizes an entire career of sociological research into a textbook that'd be useful for upper division undergraduates or early-stage graduate students. He lays out the mathematical underpinnings and long history of social network analysis in a way that provides rigorous background for the popularized work of Putnam (Bowling Alone) and Gladwell (The Tipping Point).

Where Kadushin excels is in critically thinking about real networks from a sociological and psychological standpoint. Real social networks are never as randomized as mathematical models assume. Their sorting by self-similarity, influence, and small-world rules means that they are inherently unequal, and tend to benefit centrally placed leaders and extremely charismatic people who bridge dense worlds over the average person. Kadushin's skepticism is a necessary antidote to naive optimism about the power of networks and vague notions of social capital to serve as an unalloyed good. A final chapter on ethics distills the lessons of a career about how social network research is especially risky in compromising people.