This is a logically well-structured, highly esteemed, fun to read early classic in social network analysis in cultural anthropology. Boissevain was one of the first to attempt to back up analyses of social networks with empirical field data, data which when not taken from classical studies were gathered by the author himself. The book's explicit critique of structural functionalism is a rationale for the book as a whole. Makes a bold and largely successful attempt (for a scientist working prior to the development of computerised network modelling) to describe social change on the level of the experience of individuals without neglecting their importance as elements in a social network. Its many entertaining case analyses range from examples taken from the inner workings of the Sicilian Mafia to the interactions of Maltese society, as seen in minute detail through the eyes of two insider informants. The book thus places the individual and his or her specific concrete relations back into scientific focus. The analyses display a strong interest in patron-client relationships. In addition the book provides profound insights that transcend cultural boundaries into the nature of the "broker" personality. On the whole it contrasts favourably in points of detail with Elizabeth Bott's Family and Social Network (1971).