It's been said that without Harold A. Innis there could have been no Marshall McLuhan. Empire and Communications is one of Innis's most important contributions to the debate about how media influenced the development of consciousness and societies. In this foundational work, he traces humanity's movement from the oral tradition of preliterate cultures to the electronic media of recent times. Along the way, he presents his own influential concepts of oral communication, time and space bias, and monopolies of knowledge. With a new introduction by Alexander John Watson, author of Marginal Man: The Dark Vision of Harold Innis, and a new foreword by series editor Andrew Calabrese, this previously hard-to-obtain book is now readily available again. All communication scholars should have this classic book on their shelves, and it also serves as a great supplementary text in communication and economics courses.

Empire and Communications (Critical Media Studies: Institutions, Politics, and Culture)

History

Harold A. Innis

World

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

In this book, Adams develops his theory that the history of empires is determined to a large extent by their means of communication. He examines the civilizations of Egypt, Babylon, Greece, Rome, and Europe (before and after the printing press) supporting his thesis with a rich array of historical, sociological, psychological, and anthropological data. Innis was one of the first to recognize the powerful influence technology exerted over culture, and he pioneered investigations into the effects of the communications media on society.

Empire and Communications

Reference

Mary Q. Innis [rev.]

Marshall McLuhan [foreword]

Words, Language & Grammar

University of Toronto Press

One of the most influential books ever published in Canada, Harold A. Innis's The Bias of Communication has played a major part in reshaping our understanding of history, communication, and media theory. First published in 1951, this masterful collection of essays explores the relationship between a society's communication media and that community's ability to maintain control over its development. Innis considers political and economic forces in the context of social change and the role of communication in the creation of both ancient and modern empires.In an essay for this new edition, Innis biographer Alexander John Watson examines the reasons why Innis, at the height of his success as an economic historian, embarked on new research areas of communications and empire, as well as the ways in which Marshall McLuhan's interpretations of Innis changed and de-politicized Innis's work.As important today as it was when first published, The Bias of Communication is essential reading for historians and scholars of communication and media studies.

The Bias of Communication (Canadian University Paperbacks)

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

The Fur Trade in Canada: An Introduction to Canadian Economic History (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from The Fur Trade in Canada: An Introduction to Canadian Economic History Doctor Innis has made himself personally familiar with the fur trade territories of Canada, and has also gone to the original historical documents containing the record of the fur trade. The work is throughout a piece of original research animated by the spirit of interpretative scholarship. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Business & Money

Economics

Forgotten Books

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Books by Harold A. Innis