Marshall T. Poe, Associate Professor of History at the University of Iowa, is the author or editor of several books, including A People Born to Slavery: Russia in Early Modern European Ethnography (2000), The Russian Elite in the Seventeenth Century (2004) and The Russian Moment in World History (2006). He is the co-founder and editor of Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History and founder and host of 'New Books in History' (http://newbooksinhistory.com), as well as a former writer and editor for the Atlantic Monthly. Professor Poe has been a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton University), Harriman Institute (Columbia University) and the Kennan Institute (Washington, DC).

'Based on a truly impressive range (as well as amount) of reading, arguing an original and convincing thesis, and written in a lucid and engaging style, this book deserves to reach a wide audience of students and scholars alike.' Peter Burke, University of Cambridge

• Introduction: media causes and effects; 1. Homo loquens: humanity in the age of speech and memory; 2. Homo scriptor: humanity in the age of manuscripts; 3. Homo lector: humanity in the age of print; 4. Homo videns: humanity in the age of the audio-visual media; 5. Homo somnians: humanity in the age of Internet; Conclusion: the media and human well-being.