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Written by two leading social and cultural historians, A Social
History of the Media provides a masterful overview of communication media and
of the social and cultural contexts within which they emerged and evolved over
time. The authors retrace the complex and multiple paths of development, exploring
the interrelations between communication media and other aspects of social and
cultural life. The scope of this book is immense, exploring
the history of the different means of communication in the West from the invention
of printing to the Internet. It deals with each constituent element in what came
to be called 'the media' and discusses, among other things, the continuing importance
of oral and manuscript communication, the rise of print, the relationship between
physical transportation and social communication, and the development of electronic
media. The book concludes with an account of the convergences associated with
digital communication technology, the rise of the internet and the phenomenon
of globalization. Avoiding technological determinism
and rejecting assumptions of straightforward evolutionary progress, this book
brings out the rich and varied histories of communication media. It will be an
ideal text for students in history, media and cultural studies and journalism,
but it will also appeal to a wide general readership. Asa
Briggs was formerly Provost of Worcester College, Oxford and Chancellor of the
Open University. In 2000 he was awarded the 1999 Wolfson Prize for History and
Peter Burke is Professor of Cultural History at the University of Cambridge and
Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. |
