Brian Winston is Head of the School of Communication, Design and Media at the University of Westminster. He has been Dean of the College of Communications at the Pennsylvania State University, Chair of Cinema Studies at New York University and Founding Research Director of the Glasgow University Media Group. His books include Claiming the Real (1995). As a television professional, he has worked on World in Action and has an Emmy for documentary script-writing.

'In my view it will become the standard work on media and communications courses where we attempt to introduce students to the histories of communications ... I loudly celebrate this important study and commend it unreservedly to all concerned with media, communications and the role of technologies in the world today.' - European Journal of Communications'[Winston's] breadth of experience is evident in this thorough and lucid history The scope of the material and the detail presented in 300 information-rich pages plus some 250 references is impressive. Winston not only picks out the key 'facts' about a period or a technology, but what is more difficult, manages to tell the truth about what was going on at the time' - Journal of Documentation'Anyone seriously interested in the field is likely to find much of interest, and to retain the history as a reference for use when presented with dubious 'facts' by enthusiasts of the new technologies This is recommended reading.' - Journal of Documentation

• Introduction: The Storm from Paradise: Technological Innovation, Diffusion and Suppression Part One: Propagating Sound at Considerable Distance 1. The Telegraph: The First Electrical Medium 2. Before the Speaking Telephone 3. The Capture of SoundPart Two: The Vital Spark & Fugitive Pictures 4. Wireless and Radio 5. Mechanically Scanned Television 6. Electronically Scanned Television 7. Television Spin-offs and RedundanciesPart Three: Device For Casting Up Sums Very Pretty 8. Mechanising Calculation 9. The First Computers 10. Suppressing The Mainframes 11. The Integrated Circuit 12. The Coming of the MicrocomputerPart Four: The Intricate Web of Trails 13. The Beginnings of Networks 14. Networks & Recording Technologies 15. Communications Satellites 16. The Satellite Era 17. Cable Television 18. The InternetConclusion: The Pile of DebrisFrom the Boulevard des Capucins to the Leningradsky Prospect