This timely book provides a concise but critical introduction to the work of a sociological phenomenon. After introducing the man, his major influences, and his special way of "thinking sociologically," Blackshaw traces the development of Bauman's project by identifying and explaining the two major shifts of emphasis in his work--the postmodern "turn" and the subsequent refocusing on "liquid" modernity. He also offers a clear and accessible guide to the key conceptual hinges that move the reader from one to the other, taking in the ideas of legislators and interpreters, ambivalence, seduction and repression, contingency, and fragmentation.