Part 1 - Media of Early Civilization 1.  The Earliest Precursors of Writing, Schmandt-Besserat2.  Media in Ancient Empires, Innis3.  Civilization with Writing - The Incas and the Quipu, Ascher and Ascher 4.  The Origins of Writing, Robinson Part 2 - The Tradition of Western Literacy 5. The Greek Legacy, Havelock6.  Writing and the Alphabet Effect, Logan7.  Orality, Literacy and Modern Media, Ong8. Communication and Faith in the Middle Ages, Burke and Ornstein Part 3 - The Print Revolution 9. Paper and Block Printing – From China to Europe, Carter10. The Invention of Printing, Mumford11. Aspects of the Printing Revolution, Eisenstein12. Early Modern Literacies, Graff13. The Trade in News, Thompson Part 4 - Electricity Creates the Wired World 14. Telegraphy – The Victorian Internet, Standage 15. The New Journalism, Schudson16. The Telephone Takes Command, Fischer 17. Time, Space and the Telegraph, Carey  Part 5 - Image and Sound Technologies and the Emergence of Consumer Society 18. Dream Worlds of Consumption, Williams19. Early Photojournalism, Keller20. Inscribing Sound, Gitelman21. The making of the Phonograph, Sterne22. Early Motion Pictures, Czitrom23. Movies Talk, Eyman24. Mass Media and the Star System, Fowles Part 6 - Radio Days 25. Wireless World, Kern 26. The Public Voice of Radio, Peters27. Early Radio, Douglas 28. The Golden Age of Programming, Sterling and Kitross 29. Radio Voices, Hilmes 30. Radio in the Television Age, Fornatale and Mills  Part 7 - TV Times 31. Television Begins, Boddy 32. The New Languages, Carpenter 33. Making Room for TV, Spigel 34. Television Transforms the News, Stephens35. Two Cultures - Television versus Print, Postman and Paglia36. TV in the New-age, Jenkins Part 8 - New Media and Old in the (Digital) Information Age 37. The Control Revolution, Beniger 38. How Media Became New, Manovich39. Popularizing the Internet, Abbate40. The World Wide Web, Bolter and Grusin41. A Mobile Network Society, Castells, et al 

Significant changes to the sixth edition will provide you with greater coverage of major media developments in the past to help you comprehend the full impact and influence of media in maintaining social order and promoting change. 1. Reorganization of the text. The sixth edition has been reorganized to provide greater unity within and among the eightparts of the text. 2. Expanded coverage of major media developments in the past includes the role of printing in the rise of the modernstate, and an expanded examination of communication in our own era of proliferating media forms–television, video, digital technology, and the internet. 3. Introductions to each section provide a rationale for that particular section, an explanation of key concepts and transitions, and background material to help you to better appreciate the individual essays. 4. New authors. New authors include Lisa Gitelman, Jonathan Sterne, John Durham Peters, Henry Jenkins, and Manuel Castells. 5. Updated essay selections. New selections address the development of sound recording, the emergence of the modalitiesof broadcasting, television in the new post-mass media environment and the expanding social significance of mobile communications and networks, providing you with a more all-encompassing view of communication history.

Features:Concise but comprehensive chapters vary in style and level, making it easy for instructors to tailor assignments to their courses. Readingsfeature major writers including Innis, Ong, McLuhan, Schudson, Mumford, Postman, and many others. Part introductions provide an overview of the concepts and scholars presented in each section. "Suggestions for Further Reading" section serves as a guide to reading in greater depth. Entries on television in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s help to make the television section more historically complete. Discussion of the telegraph highlights how it transformed a variety of media practices. An advertising entry shows more clearly how consumption and mass society develops through media practices. An entry on early printing technology in China increases the text's coverage of non-Western communications traditions.

Features more coverage of major media developments in the past, such as the role of printing in the rise of the modern state, and an expanded examination of communication in our own era of proliferating media forms — television, video, digital technology,  and the internet. We have created this rich canvas using selections from writers considered to be at the vanguard of their respective fields. The goal of this new edition, however, has changed little from previous versions: to invite students to consider the development of human behavior and social experience as, in part, a response to the uses and consequences of communication media in the wider context of human history. The text lays out a journey that will help reveal how media have been influential both in maintaining social order and as powerful agents of change. Divided into eight parts, the sixth edition begins with prehistory and ends with the contemporary information era. Included at the beginning of each section in an introduction to help students appreciate the connections and to afford an overview of the history of communication. New authors include Lisa Gitelman, Jonathan Sterne, John Durham Peters, Henry Jenkins, and Manuel Castells. New selections address the development sound recording, the emergence of the modalities of broadcasting, television in the new post-mass media environment and the expanding social significance of mobile communications and networks.