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A Social History of the Media: From Gutenberg to the Internet

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Written by two leading social and cultural historians, the first two editions of A Social History of the Media became classic textbooks, providing a masterful overview of communication media and of the social and cultural contexts within which they emerged and evolved over time. This third edition has been thoroughly revised to bring the text up to date with the very latest developments in the field. Increased space is given to the exciting media developments of the early 21st Century, including in particular the rise of social and participatory media and the globalization of media. Additionally, new and important research is incorporated into the classic material exploring the continuing importance of oral and manuscript communication, the rise of print and the relationship between physical transportation and social communication. Avoiding technological determinism and rejecting assumptions of straightforward evolutionary progress, this book brings out the rich and varied histories of communication media. In an age of fast-paced media developments, a thorough understanding of media history is more important than ever, and this text will continue to be the first choice for students and scholars across the world.

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

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About the author

Asa Briggs

153 books11 followers
Asa Briggs, Baron Briggs was an English historian, best known for his studies on the Victorian era. In particular, his trilogy, Victorian People, Victorian Cities, and Victorian Things made a lasting mark on how historians view the nineteenth century. He was made a life peer in 1976.

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5 stars
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82 (31%)
3 stars
94 (35%)
2 stars
37 (14%)
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
Profile Image for Peiman E iran.
1,436 reviews1,095 followers
June 15, 2017
دوستانِ گرانقدر، به نظرم این کتاب در زمینۀ « ارتباطات» و انواعِ آن و همچنین « تاریخِ رسانه ها»، میتونه کتابِ به نسبت کامل و خوبی باشه
در قرنِ بیستم و این سالهایِ اخیر، برخي از نظريه پردازان و نویسندگان ، از «كلود لوی استروس»، انسان شناسِ فرانسوي، گرفته، تا «نيكلاس لومان» جامعه شناس آلماني، در موردِ مفهوم «ارتباط » نوشتند... «كلود لوی استروس»، دربارۀ مبادلۀ كالاها و زنان نوشت و «نيكلاس لومان» از قدرت، پول و عشق و نيز «انواع گوناگونِ ارتباط » سخن به ميان آورد... برخی هم پا را فراتر گذشته و تخصصی تر به این موضوع پرداختن،... «هرولد اينيس» دربارۀ مفهومِ «سوگيری ارتباطات » نوشت،... «مارشال مكلوهان» از «دهكدهٔ جهانی» سخن گفت،... «جک گودی»، به پيگيریِ مفهومِ «رام كردن ذهنِ وحشی»پرداخت و «يورگن هابرماس» در موردِ «گسترهٔ همگانی» تعريفاتی را ارائه كرد و آن را منطقه ای برای «گفت وگو» دانست
ما خود را به ارتباطِ اطلاعات، انديشه ها و سرگرمی ها، آنهم در قالبِ واژه ها و تصويرها، از راهِ سخن گفتن، نوشتن، چاپ، راديو، تلويزيون و اينترنت، محدود كرده ايم
دو قرن قبل از اختراع چاپ، توليد نسخه هایِ خطی، از جمله نسخه هایِ خطی مصور، افزايش يافت. بدين ترتيب، فن آوریِ جديدی پا به عرصه گذاشت تا نياز روز افزون را به مطالبِ خواندنی برآورده کند. در اين دو قرن، هنرهای تجسمی نيز در حال بسط و توسعۀ آن هنری بود که در گذشته در بینِ مردم به «صورتگری» شناخته ميشد
پیش از قرنِ 12 میلادی و حتی در همان زمان، اکثرِ مردم خرافاتی بودند و از دین و مذهب ترس داشتند، آنها ترجیح میدادند، پایِ اراجیفِ اسقف هایِ اعظم و پاپ بنشینند، ولی « نوشته» را تحقیر آمیز قلمداد میکردند... آنها «نوشته» را به «پوستِ قوچِ اخته شده» که با جوهر سیاه شده است، تشبیه میکردند... طلوعِ فرهنگِ نوشتاری در غرب، قرونِ 12 و 13 میلادی بود... زمانی که «دانته» و «جوّتو نقاش» قلم به دست گرفتند و بعد از آنها، «پترارک» و بوکاتچو» و «چاوسر»، این راه را ادامه دادند و به شهرت رسیدند... تا بعد از قرنِ 19 میلادی و شروعِ قرنِ بیستم میلادی که واژۀ «الکترونیک» واردِ عرصۀ ارتباطات شد، و برقراریِ ارتباط به صورتِ مستقیم و بی واسطه رونق گرفت
البته منتقدانی چون «مک لوهان» بودند که رادیو و سینما را رسانه هایِ گرم و تلویزیون و تلفن را رسانه هایِ سرد، خطاب کردند... و یا «ديويد اولسونِ» روانشناس، میگفت كه، تجربۀ خواندن و نوشتن، تغييرهايي در شيوة تفکر ما دربارة زبان، ذهن و جهان به وجود آورده است، گسترهٔ اين تغييرها از پيدايشِ ذهنگرايی تا تشبيهِ جهان به يك كتاب (كه ميتوان آن را خواند) در برميگيرد
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امیدوارم پسندیده باشید و مفید بوده باشه
<پیروز باشید و ایرانی>
Profile Image for Wi.
32 reviews
Read
August 21, 2023
poddałam się i nie potrafię obiektywnie ocenić tej książki
Profile Image for Darnell.
1,441 reviews
February 5, 2019
More on the textbook side, but readable enough. The early chapters do a good job of mixing a broad survey of time with concrete details, many of them new to me. But the closer to the modern day the book gets, the less perspective we have and the more difficult it is to pick out the developments that really matter.
Profile Image for Vittoria Amati.
8 reviews2 followers
August 18, 2023
In alcune, poche, parti diventa confusionario, aggiunge informazioni e fornisce collegamenti per nulla necessari. Complessivamente un buon libro, ricco di storie e vicende da conoscere e volendo da approfondire.
Profile Image for Erin LM.
23 reviews8 followers
October 21, 2020
Interesting read, it's a good overview of the history and development of media. My only problem was that sometimes the author got carried away and the chronology ended up being a bit confusing.
Profile Image for Jiske.
95 reviews
December 9, 2023
ik heb echt een APPELTJE TE SCHILLEN met dit boek
- slecht geschreven
- totaal geen onderscheid van hoofd en bijzaken
- voor een sociale geschiedenis hoef ik echt niet te weten hoe een fucking microprocessor werkt
- sowieso weinig cultuurhistorisch
- legt uit wat een selfie is
- had 150 pagina's korter kunnen zijn
- tijdverspilling!
xoxo
Profile Image for Elizabeth.
1,020 reviews
November 7, 2009
This book probably deserves more credit than I'm giving it. It provides what seems to be a thorough history of media, as its title suggests, from print to today. But apart from being a good survey text, it offers little else of substance. For instance, early on its authors refuse to pick a side in the technological determinism debate. Further, it gives a good account of many of the seminal historical texts on print, radio, television etc., but doesn't do more than allude to them. Critiques of particular arguments rarely take up more than a paragraph. All of this merely results in a preponderance of texts "for further consideration" without a clear idea of which of those texts might provide relevant details worth considering. All of this aside, I did appreciate the authors' attempt to chart a middle ground and to keep a historical perspective. This would probably be a useful book for undergrads. It's undertheorized from a graduate student perspective, however.
Profile Image for Maggie Hesseling.
1,368 reviews13 followers
May 6, 2013
I love this book! Well organised and easy to read, it's a great social history of the media- newspapers, books, television, internet, etc. you name it.
Profile Image for Rayanne.
179 reviews9 followers
August 23, 2024
Penei nesse aqui, reconheço toda a sua importância porém algumas informações cronológica foram uma grande barriga e me distanciavam do meu objetivo em ler esse livro.
Profile Image for سارة الليثي.
Author 5 books97 followers
May 21, 2024
الكتاب يحكي تاريخ تطور الإعلام من أيام المنادي والنقش على الجدران وحتى ظهور الانترنت والتأثيرات المترتبة عليه حتى عام 2001 بأسلوب ممتع وشيق على الرغم من أكاديميته
ويبدو من خلال الكتاب ان عام 1984 كان عام محوري جداً تقريباً حصلت فيه أغلب أنواع الاكتشافات والتعاقدات والاندماجات بين الشركات الكبرى والاستحواذات، والغريب بقى إني في نفس التوقيت كنت بقرأ كتاب تاني عن تاريخ المسرح وبرضه عام 1984 كان فيه تغيير كبير على مستوى المسرح وظهور فرق مهمة وإنجازات في مسرح العبث والمسرح التجريبي وحاجات كدة، فمش عارفة ايه السنة الغريبة دي؟ 🤔
المهم أنا جبت الكتاب وقريته كله 444 صفحة على أمل إني أخد منه أي حاجة لرسالة الماجستير بتاعتي، ومطلعتش منه بكلمة حتى الحمد لله، بس كان حلو مسلي على المستوى الثقافي الشخصي، بس أنا عايزة أخلص أم الرسالة بقى 🙄

#التاريخ_الاجتماعي_للوسائط تأليف #آسا_بريغز #بيتر_بورك ترجمة #مصطفى_محمد_قاسم
#جولة_في_الكتب #كتب_إعلامية
#سارة_الليثي
Profile Image for Best GMB Shop SMM King.
20 reviews
October 24, 2025
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Profile Image for Blue Simon.
65 reviews
July 23, 2019
L'ho dovuto leggere in quanto libro di testo per un corso accademico e: MAI PIÙ!
Abbastanza interessante, ma sinceramente, troppo prolisso, troppo a parlare del nulla, troppe pagine e troppi esempi!
Uno spreco di carta in tutti i sensi!
Avendone fatto dei riassunti, 3/4 di quel libro si poteva tranquillamente risparmiare per salvare po' l'ambiente!
Non lo consiglio assolutamente!
Profile Image for Brian.
61 reviews10 followers
July 7, 2017
As far as textbooks go, surprisingly readable, well-written, and compelling.
Profile Image for Nicole Scavino.
Author 3 books178 followers
January 26, 2019
Just incredible compilations year per year since Gutenberg to The Internet Industry and The New Era.
Profile Image for Michelle Boyer.
1,888 reviews27 followers
June 28, 2022
PopSugar 2020 reading challenge #30

Theory
Theory
Theory

Was assigned this text as part of a "History of the Book" course, focusing on Library and Information Sciences. I have to say, the writing was a bit bland for my taste -- I know, I know, academic books get a bad name and too many complain about the tone or the writing but, in this case, it was not great and did not further pique my interest on the topic(s) at hand. It could be because of the e-book version I received, but I found there was a lack of secondary citation/research that was... odd? Again, could have been the weird 'inclusive access' book my university was peddling but, it was just different as an academic experience.

Some interesting historical notes throughout.
Profile Image for Maria.
642 reviews32 followers
July 5, 2015
Although I started reading this book for my minor, I finished it because I can't let books be after I started them... x')

The book is pretty organized and informative, and definitely worth studying if you're in that field of study.

Personally I found it tough to get through, because history is not my biggest interest and there are a lot of names in the media world of which I have very limited knowledge. x')

I gave 4 stars, because it was pleasant to read and of good quality. It's not 5 stars, because they didn't do proper research on the origins of print in Korea, their timetable shows incorrect data for the invention if woodblock printing, removable metal types and the oldest prints in Korea...
Profile Image for Amelia Arsenault.
8 reviews
March 21, 2015
While a concise history of the media is sorely needed, this book doesn't really do the job. While the legacy media chapters are thorough, the authors demonstrate only a shallow understanding of social media, gaming, and the internet in general. Those chapters are also filled with historical inaccuracies. Moreover, the book is so riddled with typos and grammatical mistakes that the publisher should be embarrassed.
Profile Image for Brittany.
15 reviews4 followers
April 15, 2008
A very interesting timeline on the history of media in terms of society. This was used in my History of Media class. It was a very easy read and provided a lot of great information about the history of various types of media from the printing press to the internet.
Profile Image for Bulent.
997 reviews64 followers
August 25, 2013
Yazarların özellikle doğu dünyasına yönelik önyargılardan kurtulamadığı düşünülünce kitabın bazı eksikleri olmakla birlikte oldukça düzenli ve sistematik bir medya tarihi çalışması olarak nitelemek mümkün.
Profile Image for lita.
440 reviews66 followers
March 22, 2009
satu lagi amunisi buat bikin makalah yang musti kelar minggu ini :((
Profile Image for Nabil Zouine.
76 reviews8 followers
July 15, 2016
من الطباعة إلى الأنترنت، تاريخ ظهور الوسائط (الصحف، الكتاب، التلغراف، الراديو...إلى الحاسوب) و تفاعلات الإنسان كفرد، أو جماعات مع الوسائط.
...
Profile Image for Marti.
41 reviews1 follower
February 3, 2011
Title sounds interesting, but it was too dry for me and WAY too long.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews

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