First Published in 2005. Emile Durkheim’s writing on education is well-known and widely recognized to be of great significance. In these lectures – given for the first time in 1902 to meet an urgent contemporary need – Durkheim presents a ‘vast and bold fresco’ of educational development in Europe. He covers nearly eight hundred years of history. The book culminates in two long chapters of positive recommendations for modern curriculum, which should be of special interest and value to those concerned with education policy, in whatever capacity.