Communication in History

This 2007 edition has some changes from the 2003 edition (link:Communication in History: Technology, Culture, and Society (4th Edition)), but at a price difference of almost $100, I'd go with the earlier edition, which is still excellent. Here's a list of the exact changes, by each of the major sections (which have not changed): Part I: Media of Early Civilization * Article on writing pre-cursors (tokens) now by Denise Schmandy-Bessart instead of Rudgley Part II: The Tradition of Western Literacy * Adds article by Umberto Eco "A Medieval Library" Part III: The Print Revolution * No change Part IV: Electricity Creates the Wired World * Subtracts article "Inventing the Expert" by Carolyn Marvin Part V: Image Technologies and the Emergence of Mass Society * Subtracts "On Photography" by Susan Sontag * Adds "Movies Talk" by Scott Eyman Part VI: Radio Days * Subtracts "Radio and Race" by Gerald Nachman * Adds "Radio in a Television Age" by Fornatale and Joshua E Mills * Adds "Radio Voices" by Michele Hilmes Part VII: TV Times * Adds "Two-Cultures--Television versus Print by Neil Postman and Camille Paglia Part VIII: New Media and Old in the Information Age * Subtracts "From the Codex Page to the Homepage" by James J. O'Donnell * Adds "The Social Shape of Electronics" by Ruth Schwartz Cowen

This is exactly what I was looking for - a media studies perspective on world history. There is now a newer edition, but this one is remarkable and still feels rather up-to-date. Table of Contents --------------------------- Part I--Media of Early Civilization [Chapter 1] The Art and Symbols of Ice Age Man Alexander Marshack [Chapter 2] A New Rosetta Stone Richard Rudgley (Denise Schmandt-Bessarat) [Chapter 3] Media in Ancient Empires Harold Innis [Chapter 4] Civilization without Writing--The Incas and the Quipu Marcia Ascher and Robert Ascher [Chapter 5] The Origins of Writing Andrew Robinson Part II--The Tradition of Western Literacy [Chapter 6] The Alphabet Johanna Drucker [Chapter 7] The Greek Legacy Eric Havelock [Chapter 8] Writing and the Alphabet Effect Robert K. Logan [Chapter 9] Orality, Literacy, and Modern Media Walter Ong [Chapter 10] A Medieval Library Umberto Eco [Chapter 11] Communication in the Middle Ages James Burke Part III--The Print Revolution [Chapter 12] Paper and Block Printing--From China to Europe T.F. Carter [Chapter 13] The Invention of Printing Lewis Mumford [Chapter 14] The Rise of the Reading Public Elizabeth Eisenstein [Chapter 15] Early Modern Literacies Harvey J. Graff [Chapter 16] The Trade in News John B. Thompson Part IV--Electricity Creates the Wired World [Chapter 17] The Optical Telegraph Daniel Headrick [Chapter 18] Telegraphy--The Victorian Internet Tom Standage [Chapter 19] The New Journalism Michael Schudson [Chapter 20] The Telephone Takes Command Claude S. Fischer [Chapter 21] Inventing the Expert Carolyn Marvin [Chapter 22] Time, Space, and the Telegraph James W. Carey Part V--Image Technologies and the Emergence of Mass Society [Chapter 23] On Photography Susan Sontag [Chapter 24] Early Photojournalism Ulrich Keller [Chapter 25] Dream Worlds of Consumption Rosalynd Williams [Chapter 26] Early Motion Pictures Daniel Czitrom [Chapter 27] Mass Media and the Star System Jib Fowles [Chapter 28] Advertising and the Idea of Mass Society Jackson Lears Part VI--Radio Days [Chapter 29] Wireless World Stephen Kern [Chapter 30] Early Radio Susan J Douglas [Chapter 31] The Golden Age of Programming Christopher Sterling and John M. Kittross [Chapter 32] Radio and Race Gerald Nachman [Chapter 33] Understanding Radio Marshall McLuhan Part VII--TV Times [Chapter 34] Television Begins Willaim Boddy [Chapter 35] The New Languages Edmund Carpenter [Chapter 36] Making Room for TV Lynn Spigel [Chapter 37] The Sixties Counterculture on TV Aniko Bodroghkozy [Chapter 38] Television Transforms the News Mitchell Stephens Part VIII--New Media and Old in the Information Age [Chapter 39] The Control Revolution James Beniger [Chapter 40] How Media Became New Lev Manovich [Chapter 41] Popularizing the Internet Janet Abbate [Chapter 42] From the Codex Page to the Homepage James J O'Donnell [Chapter 43] The World Wide Web Jay David Bolter and Richar

The previous edition had an excellent selection of articles, chapters and exerpts. I have used it twice for a class I teach on information in society. I would consider using the new edition if it was available by October. When will it be published? Please let me know by email.