Basil Bernstein: Code Theory and Beyond: By Brian Barrett. Pp xix, 122. Cham: Springer. 2024. £39.99 (pbk). £31.99 (ebk). ISBN 978-3-031-50743-4 (pbk), ISBN 978-3-031-50745-8 (ebk).

The work of Basil Bernstein has proved generative of some of the most insightful and nuanced sociological studies of education of the last 25 years, including volumes produced following various symposia on Bernstein’s work, some more recent work produced under the auspices of social realism and legitimation code theory (LCT) (both of which draw extensively although by no means exclusively on Bernstein), and contemporary studies of education policy, globalisation and teachers’ work (e.g., articles in Ivinson and Singh, Citation2018). Bernstein’s stature as an imaginative and perceptive sociologist is assured, even if his work has been occasionally misunderstood or disregarded by contributors to educational research. His work is not easy to read, but the analytical potential it offers is considerable and not yet fully explored.