This book is based on Collins' doctorial dissertation. He aims to correct an imbalance in previous studies of the Uruk period of Mesopotamian history, which have traditionally been slanted towards the study of well known sites in southern Mesopotamia, by constructing a thesis which considers both southern and northern sites. Collins rejects the theory that the Uruk world grew out of the southern Mesopotamian domination of long distance exchange networks, and instead looks at the importance of the development of a common ideology, one which emphasised a contrast between the extreme order of urban agricultural life and the chaos of the natural world. Despite his frequent use of the phrase `social ideology', and his good intentions to highlight shared ideas and beliefs, Collins presents the archaeological material in a standard format, divided into discrete categories, site by site, region by region, fact by fact.