Communication Studies
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Media Management and Artificial Intelligence: Understanding Media Business Models in the Digital Age
This cutting-edge textbook examines contemporary media business models in the context of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital transformation. AI has dramatically impacted media production and distribution, from recommendation engines to synthetic humans, from video-to-text tools to natural language models. “AI is really the change agent of the media industry,” answered a natural language generation model when AI was ‘asked’ about the subject of this book. “It will open incredible opportunities.” This book seeks to explore them.
The media is examined through four sections. ‘Principles’ maps business models and the key tools of AI. ‘Platforms’ covers distribution channels in Games, Streamers, Social Networks, Broadcast and Digital Publishing. ‘Producers’ covers the engines of content-making, including Scripted, Entertainment, Factual, Content Marketing, Creators and Music. Finally, ‘Pioneers’ covers emerging sectors of Podcasting, Esports, the Metaverse and other AI-driven developments. Then in each chapter, a standard value creation model is applied, mapping a single sector through development, production, distribution and monetisation.
Diverse case studies are analysed from India, Nigeria, South Korea, South Africa, France, the Netherlands, the US, the UK, Denmark and China – around creative entrepreneurship, revenue models, profit drivers, rights and emerging AI tools. Questions are provided for each case, whilst chapter summaries cement learning.
Applied and technology-focused, this text offers core reading for advanced undergraduate and postgraduates studying Media Management – or the relationship between Entertainment, Media and Technology. Online resources include chapter-by-chapter PowerPoint slides and an Instructor’s Manual with further exercises and case studies.
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£34.20£38.00 -
Unscripted: Sex and Lies in Hollywood’s Most Powerful Company
‘Explosive’ Esquire
‘Epic’ Financial Times
‘Riveting’ Vanity FairSumner Redstone was the CEO of Hollywood’s most influential company: the powerhouse behind Indiana Jones and Star Wars, film studios and TV production companies, a fleet of private jets and tailor-made jewellery lines. He was notorious for his fearsome temper, his all-consuming ambition and his pledge to live forever. Until, one day, he lost control.
Unscripted is the story of an empire embroiled in scandal, a will in tatters, and a family on the edge of self-destruction. It sounds too outrageous to be true – except it is.
Longlisted for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award
‘A racy tale of big money, bigger egos and #MeToo disgrace.’ The Times
‘Addicted to Succession? Well, here’s the real thing.’ Hollywood Reporter
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£9.60£10.40 -
Film Studies: An Introduction: Teach Yourself
An unpretentious guide for all those who want to learn to analyse, understand and evaluate films.
Film Studies: An Introduction provides an overview of the key areas in film studies, including aesthetics, narrative, genre, documentary films and the secrets of film reviewing. From Hitchcock and Tarantino to Spielberg and Bigelow, you will gain a critical understanding of legendary directors and the techniques and skills that are used to achieve cinematic effects. Whether you are a film studies student or just a film buff wanting to know more, this book will give you an invaluable insight into the exciting and incredibly fast-moving world of film.
Understand Film Studies includes:
Chapter 1: Film aesthetics: formalism and realism
Chapter 2: Film structure: narrative and narration
Chapter 3: Film authorship: the director as auteur
Chapter 4: Film genres: defining the typical film
Chapter 5: The non-fiction film: five types of documentary
Chapter 6: The reception of film: the art and profession of film viewingRead more
£9.10£12.30Film Studies: An Introduction: Teach Yourself
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The History of Cinema: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
Cinema was the first, and is arguably still the greatest, of the industrialized art forms that came to dominate the cultural life of the twentieth century. Today, it continues to adapt and grow as new technologies and viewing platforms become available, and remains an integral cultural and aesthetic entertainment experience for people the world over.Cinema developed against the backdrop of the two world wars, and over the years has seen smaller wars, revolutions, and profound social changes. Its history reflects this changing landscape, and, more than any other art form, developments in technology. In this Very Short Introduction, Nowell-Smith looks at the defining moments of the industry, from silent to sound, black and white to colour, and considers its genres from intellectual art house to mass market entertainment.
ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introduction series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
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£7.10£8.50 -
Trivia for Seniors: 400 Multiple-Choice Memorable 50s-90s Events Questions and Answers. Large Print Activity Quiz Book to Challenge Your Memory and Keep Brain Young
400 Multiple-Choice 50s-90s Questions and Answers for Seniors
Do you remember when the world first marveled at the magic of color television? Or when we hummed to the tunes of Elvis Presley and later grooved to the beats of the Beatles? From the fascinating 50s to the innovative 90s, each decade brought joy, discovery, and sheer nostalgia.
This Trivia Book for Seniors is designed especially for those who have witnessed the spectacular evolution of our world from the mid-20th century to the turn of the millennium.
The book features:
✔️ Nostalgic Dive: Journey through the vibrant vignettes of the 50s to the 90s. Each decade shines through with 80 distinct multiple-choice questions, presenting options from “a” to “d”.
✔️ Brain Booster: Answering these multiple-choice trivia questions isn’t just fun and an excellent exercise for the brain.
✔️ Pure Positivity: Questions Crafted to Uplift and Inspire.
✔️ Large Print: With a font size of 16, we’ve ensured that the questions are easy on the eyes, making for a comfortable reading experience.
✔️Interactive Fun: You’re not just a passive reader. Engage with the book by circling your answers and later checking them against the solutions provided at the end.The benefits of engaging in such mental exercises are manifold:
✔️ Enhanced Memory: Regularly challenging your brain can help in sharpening memory.
✔️ Stress Reduction: Immersing yourself in a nostalgic activity can be a great way to relax and de-stress.
✔️ Social Engagement: Share this book with friends or family and indulge in friendly competitions or discussions.
✔️Knowledge Reinforcement: Revisit some iconic past events and learn something new!So, whether buying this for yourself or gifting it to a loved one, know that it’s more than just a book—it’s an experience, a journey back in time, and a celebration of the decades that defined us.
Click on “BUY NOW” above and start your trivia!
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Investing in Movies: Strategies for Investors and Producers (American Film Market Presents)
In this second edition of Investing in Movies, industry veteran Joseph N. Cohen provides investors and producers with an analytical framework to assess the opportunities and pitfalls of film investments.
The book traces macroeconomic trends and the globalization of the business, including the rise of streamers, as well as the impact these have on potential returns. It offers a broad range of guidelines on how to source interesting projects and advice on what kinds of projects to avoid, as well as numerous ways to maximize risk-adjusted returns. While focusing primarily on investments in independent films, Cohen also provides valuable insights into the studio and independent slate deals that have been marketed to the institutional investment community. As well, this new edition has been updated to fully optimize the current film industry climate including brand new chapters on the Chinese film market, new media/streaming services, and the effects of COVID-19 on the global film market.
Written in a detailed and approachable manner, this book is essential for students and aspiring professionals looking to gain an insider perspective against the minefield of film investing.
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The Worlds of Dune: The Places and Cultures that Inspired Frank Herbert
Some writers build worlds. Others birth entire universes.In the decades since its publication, Frank Herbert’s Dune has become arguably the best-selling and certainly the best-known science fiction novel ever written. So how did an ex-Navy newspaperman from Washington State come to write such a world-conquering novel? And how was he able to pack it with so many layers of myth and meaning?
Herbert’s boundless imagination was sparked by a dizzying array of ideas, from classical history to cutting-edge science, from environmentalism to Zen philosophy, and from Arabic texts to Shakespeare’s tragedies.
Beginning on Arrakis and going planet by planet, The Worlds of Dune offers a supremely deep dive into Herbert’s universe – detailing along the way the many diverse strands that he wove into his epic creation to offer a visually rich accompaniment to this sci-fi legend.
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The Book of Horror: The Anatomy of Fear in Film
‘… the definitive guide to what properly messes us up.’ ― SFX Magazine
‘Glasby anatomises horror’s scare tactics with keen, lucid clarity across 34 carefully selected main films – classic and pleasingly obscure. 4 Stars.’ ― Total FilmThe Book of Horror introduces you to the scariest movies ever made and examines what makes them so frightening.
Horror movies have never been more critically or commercially successful, but there’s only one metric that matters: are they scary? Back in the silent era, viewers thrilled at Frankenstein and Dracula. Today, the monsters may have changed, but the instinct remains the same: to seek out the unspeakable, ride the adrenaline rush and play out our fears in the safety of the cinema.
The Book of Horror focuses on the most frightening films of the post-war era – from Psycho (1960) to It Chapter Two (2019) – examining exactly how they scare us across a series of key categories. Each chapter explores a seminal horror film in depth, charting its scariest moments with infographics and identifying the related works you need to see.
Including references to more than 100 classic and contemporary horror films from around the globe, and striking illustrations from Barney Bodoano, this is a rich and compelling guide to the scariest films ever made.
The films:
Psycho (1960), The Innocents (1961), The Haunting (1963), Don’t Look Now (1973), The Exorcist (1973), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Who Can Kill a Child? (1976), Suspiria (1977), Halloween (1978), The Shining (1980), The Entity (1982), Angst (1983), Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1990), Ring (1998), The Blair Witch Project (1999), The Others (2001), The Eye (2002), Ju-On: The Grudge (2002), Shutter (2004), The Descent (2005), Wolf Creek (2005), The Orphanage (2007), [Rec] (2007), The Strangers (2008), Lake Mungo (2008), Martyrs (2008), The Innkeepers (2011), Banshee Chapter (2013), Oculus (2013), The Babadook (2014), It Follows (2015), Terrified (2017), Hereditary (2018), It Chapter Two (2019)Read more
£16.80£19.00The Book of Horror: The Anatomy of Fear in Film
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The Star Wars Archives. 1999–2005. 40th Ed.
From the moment Star Wars burst onto the screen in 1977, audiences have been in equal parts fascinated and appalled by the half-man/half-machine hybrid Darth Vader. In 1999, creator George Lucas began the story of how Anakin Skywalker grew up to train as a Jedi under Obi-Wan Kenobi, found love with the Queen of Naboo, Padmé Amidala, before turning to the dark side of his nature and becoming more machine than man.
After driving the development of nascent digital technology, George Lucas perceived how he could create new creatures and new worlds on a grander scale than ever before. He created the first digital blockbuster, and met fierce resistance when he pushed for widespread digital cameras, sets, characters, and projection – all of which are now used throughout the industry. He essentially popularized the modern way of making movies.
Made with the full cooperation of George Lucas and Lucasfilm, this second volume covers the making of the prequel trilogy ― Episode I The Phantom Menace, Episode II Attack of the Clones, and Episode III Revenge of the Sith ― and features exclusive interviews with Lucas and his collaborators. The book is profusely illustrated with script pages, production documents, concept art, storyboards, on-set photography, stills, and posters.
About the series
TASCHEN is 40! Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible publishing, helping bookworms around the world curate their own library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia at an unbeatable price. Today we celebrate 40 years of incredible books by staying true to our company credo. The 40 series presents new editions of some of the stars of our program―now more compact, friendly in price, and still realized with the same commitment to impeccable production.
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£18.30£23.80The Star Wars Archives. 1999–2005. 40th Ed.
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Different Times: A History of British Comedy
They don’t make comedy like they used to . . .
From the slapstick comedy of Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel, the surrealism of Spike Milligan and Monty Python, and the golden age of political incorrectness helmed by Benny Hill, to the alternative scene that burst forth following the punk movement, the hedonistic joy of Absolutely Fabulous, the lacerating scorn of Jimmy Carr, Ricky Gervais, and Jo Brand and the meteoric rise of socially conscious stand up today: comedy can be many things, and it is a cultural phenomenon has come to define Britain like few others.
In Different Times, David Stubbs charts the superstars that were in on the gags, the unsung heroes hiding in the wings and the people who ended up being the butt of the joke. Comedians and their work speak to and of their time, drawing upon and moulding Britons’ relationship with their national history, reflecting us as a people, and, simply, providing raucous laughs for millions of people around the world.
Different Times is a joyous, witty and insightful paean to British comedy.
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£14.40£19.00Different Times: A History of British Comedy
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A Masterpiece in Disarray: David Lynch’s Dune. An Oral History.
LIMITED FIRST EDITION contains red foil gilded page edges and a black satin ribbon marker.
As featured in Pitchfork, Empire, MovieMaker, Nerdist, The Wall Street Journal, The A.V. Club, Mashable, Wired, Yahoo’s “It List,” IGN, SFX, The Wrap, Gizmodo and more!
“I see many things. I see plans within plans.”
Following his underground hit Eraserhead and critically acclaimed The Elephant Man, visionary filmmaker David Lynch set his sights on bringing Frank Herbert’s beloved sci-fi novel Dune to the screen. The project had already vexed directors such as Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo) and Ridley Scott (Alien). But by the early ‘80s Universal Pictures was prepared to give Lynch the keys to the kingdom – and the highest budget in the studio’s history at the time – so that he could lend his surrealistic chops to this sprawling story of feuding space dynasties. They would also hopefully be creating a “Star Wars for adults” franchise-starter.
As the hot young filmmaker commanded a cast with 42 major speaking parts as well as a crew of 1,700 (plus over 20,000 extras) on 80 sets built on 8 sound stages in Mexico, what happened next became as wild, complex, and full of intrigue as Herbert’s novel itself.
Film writer Max Evry goes behind the erratic ride of David Lynch’s Dune like never before, with a years-in-the-making oral history culled from a lineup of new interviews with the film’s stars (Kyle MacLachlan, Sean Young, Virginia Madsen, etc.), creatives, film executives, and insiders – not to mention Lynch himself.
David Lynch’s Dune initially left many filmgoers and reviewers scratching their heads, most dismissing the film upon its release. However, four decades and a big-budget remake later, Lynch’s Dune is finally poised to find its rightful place alongside the director’s other masterpieces such as Blue Velvet and Mullholland Drive.
Max Evry’s A Masterpiece in Disarray takes you back to 1984 with the deepest dive yet into the cult classic that is David Lynch’s Dune.
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The Disney Book New Edition: A Celebration of the World of Disney: Centenary Edition
Celebrate more than 100 years of magical Disney storytelling.
The ideal gift for Disney, animation, and movie fans! From Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to Wish, Mary Poppins to The Little Mermaid, Disneyland to Tokyo DisneySea, and fireworks to fan clubs, explore the captivating worlds and creations of Disney and Pixar.
Now including more than 50 new pages and updated with ten more years of magic for Disney’s special 100th anniversary, The Disney Book: New Edition features groundbreaking and record-breaking creations―including Encanto, Moana, and Turning Red―and explores theme parks, experiences, memorabilia, and more.
Marvel at beautiful art and artefacts from The Walt Disney Company’s vast historical collections, and discover live-action and animated movie-making, enchanting parks, and fascinating collectibles. Follow Disney’s history using the timeline, and delve into the incredible archives.
Perfect for fans who want to know all about the magical worlds of Disney.
© 2023 Disney
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£18.00£28.50 -
Colours of Film: The Story of Cinema in 50 Palettes
‘What’s so wonderful about Bramesco’s book, outside of a visually splendid layout that embraces the first word of that title with detailed color breakdowns of each palette, is how much it enhances the critical language of the average viewer.’ – Brian Tallerico, Editor of RogerEbert.comTaking you from the earliest feature films to today, Colours of Film introduces 50 iconic movies and explains the pivotal role that colour played in their success.
The use of colour is an essential part of film. It has the power to evoke powerful emotions, provide subtle psychological symbolism and act as a narrative device.
Wes Anderson’s pastels and muted tones are aesthetically pleasing, but his careful use of colour also acts as a shorthand for interpreting emotion. And let’s not forget Schindler’s List (1993, dir. Steven Spielberg), in which a bold flash of red against an otherwise black-and-white film is used as a powerful symbol of life, survival and death.
In Colours of Film, film critic Charles Bramesco introduces an element of cinema that is often overlooked, yet has been used in extraordinary ways. Using infographic colour palettes, and stills from the movies, this is a lively and fresh approach to film for cinema-goers and colour lovers alike.
He also explores in fascinating detail how the development of technologies have shaped the course of modern cinema, from how the feud between Kodak and Fujifilm shaped the colour palettes of the 20th Century’s greatest filmakers, to how the advent of computer technology is creating a digital wonderland for modern directors in which anything is possible.
Filled with sparkling insights and fascinating accounts from the history of cinema, Colours of Film is an indispensable guide to one of the most important visual elements in the medium of film.
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£14.80£18.00Colours of Film: The Story of Cinema in 50 Palettes
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Chunky: The Best Bits from Acorn Antiques to Kitty and more
‘Absolutely perfect. All Christmas presents sorted. No notes.’ Sarra Manning
Published to celebrate the much-missed Victoria Wood’s 70th birthday, this stunning hardback edition of Chunky contains the very best of Wood’s sketches and shows, including those never seen on TV, as well as:
NEW introduction from Celia Imrie, star of many of Victoria Wood’s shows
Additions and annotations from Wood’s acclaimed official biographer, Jasper Rees.
‘I was very proud to be part of her gang.’ Celia Imrie
‘There was none like her before and there’s been none like her since – she was unique.’ Dawn French
‘She is on a par with Alan Bennett.’ Clive James
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£19.00£23.80 -
The Lego Animation Book: Make Your Own Lego Movies!
Have you ever wondered what your LEGO creations would look like on the big screen? The LEGO Animation Book will show you how to bring your models to life with stop-motion animation no experience required! Follow step-by-step instructions to make your first animation, and then explore the entire filmmaking process, from storyboards to post-production. Along the way, you ll learn how to: Create special effects like explosions and flying minifigures Convey action and emotion with your minifigure actors Design sets for animation make three buildings look like an entire city! Light, frame, and capture consistent photos Add detail and scope to your films by building in different scales Build camera dollies and rigs out of LEGO bricks Choose cameras, software, and other essential animation tools Dive into the world of animation and discover a whole new way to play! For ages 10+Read more
£15.20£23.70The Lego Animation Book: Make Your Own Lego Movies!
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Thunderclap: From the Sunday Times bestselling author of On Chapel Sands
‘One of the most captivating books I have ever read … A wonderful read (or a great present) for anyone who loves stories and art’ Nina Stibbe, author of Love, Nina
A beautifully illustrated new memoir of a life in art, a father and daughter, and what a shared love of a painting can come to mean.
‘We see with everything that we are’
On the morning of 12 October 1654, a gunpowder explosion devastated the Dutch city of Delft. The thunderclap was heard over seventy miles away. Among the fatalities was the painter Carel Fabritius, dead at thirty-two, leaving only his haunting masterpiece The Goldfinch and barely a dozen known paintings. The explosion that killed him also buried his reputation, along with answers to the mysteries of his life and career.
What happened to Fabritius before and after this disaster is just one of the discoveries in a book that explores the relationship between art and life, interweaving the lives of Laura Cumming, her Scottish painter father, who also died too young, and the great artists of the Dutch Golden Age.
This is a book about what a picture may come to mean: how it can enter your life and change your thinking in a thunderclap. Beautifully illustrated in full colour, this is the perfect Christmas gift for art lovers.
‘A book that often borders on the sublime’ Sunday Times
‘No one writes art like Laura Cumming’ Philip Hoare
‘I will never look at any painting in the same way again’ Polly Morland
‘Superb … this book taught me to see anew’ Daily Telegraph
‘Her pages stay with you long after you finish’ Simon Schama
‘Brilliant … rush out and buy it’ Edmund de Waal, author of The Hare with Amber EyesRead more
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Star Wars Timelines: From the Time Before the High Republic to the Fall of the First Order
Chart the history of Star Wars in this stunning guide, from the time before the High Republic to the end of the First Order.
An indispensable companion for all Star Wars fans, this premium quality book displays visual timelines that chronologically map key events, characters, and developments, and mark their significance.
Track crucial conflicts across the years that affect the galaxy in profound ways. Follow the Skywalker lightsaber as it passes through the generations and witness the evolution of the iconic TIE fighter across different eras. Trace the movement of the Death Star plans over the years and uncover multiple branching timelines that break down important battles.
See essential events at a glance arranged by era and drill down into details to discover major and minor events, key dates, and fascinating insights all chronologically arranged. Pore over intricate timelines on nearly every page.
Soar into Star Wars Timelines to explore:
• Chronological approach divides Star Wars history into seven eras:
Early History, The High Republic, The Fall of the Jedi, The Reign of the Empire, The Age of Rebellion, The New Republic, and The Rise of the First OrderA must-have addition to the library of all fans of Star Wars, Star Wars Timelines is sure to thrill.
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Little Book of Valentino: The story of the iconic fashion house: 13 (Little Book of Fashion)
To have a colour named after you is one of the highest accolades in fashion. Valentino Garavani is one such icon.
Since the founding of the House of Valentino in 1950s Rome, Garavani has been celebrated for the desirability of his designs. His stunning gowns in his signature Valentino Red have been sought after by the jet set for over half a century, and still signify the very epitome of red carpet glamour.
Little Book of Valentino tells the story of this most elegant of brands. Beginning with Garavani’s initiation into the world of haute couture in 1950s Paris, progressing through the glittering social scene of 1970s New York and Valentino’s domination of Hollywood from the 1980s to the present day, images of every dazzling era are beautifully reproduced alongside text exploring the significance of each stunning piece.
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Rare Watches: Explore the World’s Most Exquisite Timepieces
Forewords by Jean-Claude Biver (CEO of Tag Heuer) and Aurel Bacs (Christie’s and Phillips auctioneers).This breathtaking book explores more than 50 of the rarest watches in the world, including unique examples of which only a single model exists. From watches that have set new records in auction houses, to feats of modern technology and engineering, via iconic models worn by figures such as Elvis Presley and James Bond, this book appeals to professionals, collectors and amateurs alike.
The photography in this book is published in collaboration with high-end auction houses and watch manufacturers, displaying some of the rarest, most expensive and sought-after watches in the world in incredible detail.
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£36.90£47.50 -
Little Book of Hermès: The story of the iconic fashion house: 14 (Little Book of Fashion)
The iconic bags, the instantly recognizable packaging, the celebrity fans – Hèrmes is the last word in luxurious accessories.
Through the generations, Hermès have created innovative and exquisite accessories for the most glamorous customers. From their nineteenth-century saddlery workshop to 1960s Paris and beyond, Hermès has graced the arms and wardrobes of style icons from Grace Kelly and Jane Birkin to Victoria Beckham and Kim Kardashian. Little Book of Hermès tells the story of the evolution of the House of Hermès, through beautiful illustrations of the most coveted items and authoritative text by fashion historian Karen Homer.
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Changing Heritage: How Internal Tensions and External Pressures are Threatening Our Cultural and Natural Legacy
Changing Heritage presents the most comprehensive analysis of heritage issues available today. Critically analysing the complexity of the current and forthcoming issues faced by heritage, it presents insightful directions for the future.
Drawing on the author’s many years of experience working in senior positions at UNESCO, the book presents discussions of heritage sites all around the world. Today, our cultural and natural legacies face significant threats due to social and economic developments, political pressures, and unresolved historical issues. This book delves into these threats from two distinct perspectives: internal tensions and external pressures. The internal tensions include the disregard for human rights and gender equality; the increasing exploitation of heritage for political purposes; the development of post-colonial perspectives; and the necessity to reassess the established notion of “universal value.” External pressures stem from global processes, unsustainable tourism, political conflicts, ethnic clashes, and religious strife that are causing destruction in numerous parts of the world. Examining the dynamics between heritage and these internal tensions and external pressures, Bandarin offers insights into the challenges faced and emphasizes the imperative role of civil society in safeguarding the value of heritage for present and future generations.
Changing Heritage explores a wide range of issues surrounding the crisis in heritage management on an international level. It will be essential reading for heritage scholars, students, and professionals
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The Art of Kiki’s Delivery Service (Studio Ghibli Library)
A 13-year old girl sets off on a journey to become a witch. In the process, she learns how to be a woman. Based on the movie of the same name, this prestige format, lavishly illustrated hard-bound book gives fans a rare glimpse into the creative process of Academy Award-winning director Hayo Miyazaki.Read more
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The Art of My Neighbor Totoro (Studio Ghibli Library)
Eleven-year-old Satsuki and her sassy little sister Mei are overjoyed about moving into a historic country house with their dad – but the girls don’t realise what a delightful adventure awaits them there. While exploring their sprawling home and the beautiful rural area that surrounds it, Satsuki & Mei meet Granny, a sweet old woman, and her timid grandson Kanta. They also experience first hand the magic of the Soot Sprites, mysterious creatures that live in the walls, and discover a huge camphor tree that just might be enchanted…Read more
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1000 Design Classics
The most innovative, iconic, and influential products ever designed – from 1663 to the present day
Originating from the highly acclaimed and groundbreaking three-volume Phaidon Design Classics, this new book presents 1,000 of the world’s greatest objects in one large-format volume – from everyday items by anonymous creators to lauded pieces by the likes of Charles and Ray Eames, Charlotte Perriand, Dieter Rams, Richard Sapper, Hans J. Wegner, and Florence Knoll.
Carefully revised to bring every detail up to date, and with the addition of 100 new items that highlight designers from a diverse variety of backgrounds (including a greater number of female designers) and products from the last 15 years, this collection of the world’s greatest product design is more comprehensive, compelling – and relevant – than ever before.
The book showcases celebrated names alongside the new stars of modern design, including Le Corbusier, Alvar and Aino Aalto, Isamu Noguchi, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Lani Adeoye, Faye Toogood, and Lindsey Adelman. Each entry is accompanied by beautiful imagery and a detailed description that offers a rich insight into the product, its history, and its maker, from the renowned Tulip Chair by Eero Saarinen to the much-loved Bird Zero e-scooter.
This handsome book is the perfect reference guide for design enthusiasts, industry professionals, and all those interested in the creative process.
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£49.30£66.501000 Design Classics
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The Decisive Network: Magnum Photos and the Postwar Image Market
Since its founding in 1947, the legendary Magnum Photos agency has been telling its own story about photographers who were witnesses to history and artists on the hunt for decisive moments. Based on unprecedented archival research, The Decisive Network unravels Magnum’s mythologies to offer a new history of what it meant to shoot, edit, and sell news images after World War II.
Nadya Bair shows that between the 1940s and 1960s, Magnum expanded the human-interest story to global dimensions while bringing the aesthetic of news pictures into new markets. Working with a vast range of editorial and corporate clients, Magnum made photojournalism integral to postwar visual culture. But its photographers could not have done this alone. By unpacking the collaborative nature of photojournalism, this book shows how picture editors, sales agents, spouses, and publishers helped Magnum photographers succeed in their assignments and achieve fame. Bair concludes in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when changing market conditions led Magnum to consolidate its brand. In that moment, Magnum’s photojournalists became artists and their assignments oeuvres. Bridging art history, media studies, cultural history, and the history of communication, The Decisive Network transforms our understanding of the photographic profession and the global circulation of images in the predigital world.Read more
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Ways of Seeing: John Berger (Penguin Modern Classics)
Based on the BBC television series, John Berger’s Ways of Seeing is a unique look at the way we view art, published as part of the Penguin on Design series in Penguin Modern Classics.
‘Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognizes before it can speak.’
‘But there is also another sense in which seeing comes before words. It is seeing which establishes our place in the surrounding world; we explain that world with words, but word can never undo the fact that we are surrounded by it. The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled.’
John Berger’s Ways of Seeing is one of the most stimulating and influential books on art in any language. First published in 1972, it was based on the BBC television series about which the Sunday Times critic commented: ‘This is an eye-opener in more ways than one: by concentrating on how we look at paintings . . . he will almost certainly change the way you look at pictures.’ By now he has.
John Berger (b. 1926) is an art critic, painter and novelist.born in Hackney, London.
His novel G. (1972) won both the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Booker Prize.If you enjoyed Ways of Seeing, you might like Susan Sontag’s On Photography, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.
‘Berger has the ability to cut right through the mystification of professional art critics … he is a liberator of images: and once we have allowed the paintings to work on us directly, we are in a much better position to make a meaningful evaluation’
Peter Fuller, Arts Review‘The influence of the series and the book … was enormous … It opened up for general attention areas of cultural study that are now commonplace’
Geoff Dyer in Ways of Telling‘One of the most influential intellectuals of our time’
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£7.60£9.50 -
Mapping Media Ecology: Introduction to the Field (Understanding Media Ecology Book 4)
Until now, the academic foundations of media ecology have been passed down primarily in the form of edited volumes, often by students of Neil Postman, or are limited to a focus on Marshall McLuhan and/or Postman or some other individual important to the field. Those volumes are invaluable in pointing to key ideas in the field; they provide an important and informed account of the fundamentals of media ecology as set forth at the field’s inception. Yet there is more to the story.
Offering an accessible introduction, and written from the perspective of a «second generation» scholar, this single-authored work provides a unified, systematic framework for the study of media ecology. It identifies the key themes, processes, and figures in media ecology that have coalesced over the last few decades and presents an elegant schema with which to engage future exploration of the role of media in shaping culture and consciousness.
Dennis D. Cali offers a survey of a field as consequential as it is fascinating. Designed to be used primarily in media and communication courses, the book’s goal is to hone insight into the role of media in society and to extend the understanding of the themes, processes, and interactions of media ecology to an ever-broader intellectual community.
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£32.10 -
Heartstopper 16-Month 2023-2024 Weekly/Monthly Planner Calendar with Bonus Stickers
Join Charlie, Nick, Elle, Tao, and their classmates from Truham and Higgs as they explore love, friendship, and life in the hit Netflix series Heartstopper. Included in this 16-month planner are colorful images and graphics from the show, along with bonus stickers.
Heartstopper is based on the New York Times LGBTQ+ bestselling graphic novel series by Alice Oseman.
Features include:- 7″ x 9″ (14″ x 9″ open)
- Spiral bound
- Printed on FSC-certified paper with soy-based ink
- Spans September 2023–December 2024
- Generous grid space for notes, appointments, and reminders
- Monthly at-a-glance grids
- Extra pages at back for notes, goals, and more
- Official major world holidays and observances
- Moon phases, based on Universal Time
- Includes stickers
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£15.20 -
I Love Russia: Reporting from a Lost Country
‘Would you like to know where Putin comes from? What the Russians are like today? And why? Read this book’ SVETLANA ALEXIEVICH
‘Brilliant and immersive … reportage at its brave and luminous best’ OBSERVER
To be a journalist is to tell the truth. To be patriotic is to be critical, honest and fearless.
I Love Russia takes us to places that non-Russians have never seen and brings us voices we have never heard. It is Elena Kostyuchenko’s courageous attempt to document Russia as experienced by those whom it systematically and brutally erases: village girls recruited into sex work, queer people in the outer provinces, patients and doctors at a Ukrainian maternity ward, and reporters like herself.
At once uncompromising and deeply humane, it stitches reportage and personal essays into a kaleidoscopic, often other-worldly journey. Here is Russia as it is, not as we imagine it.
I Love Russia may be the last work from her homeland Kostyuchenko will publish for a long time – perhaps ever. She writes driven by the conviction that the greatest form of love and patriotism is criticism. And because the threat of Putin’s Russia extends beyond herself, beyond Crimea, and beyond Ukraine.
This is a singular portrait of a nation, and of a woman who refuses to be silenced.
‘Elena’s bravery and reportage are astonishing’ CHRISTINA LAMB
‘Kostyuchenko is an important guide to the twenty-first century’ TIMOTHY SNYDER
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£16.00£20.90I Love Russia: Reporting from a Lost Country
£16.00£20.90 -
Madonna: A Rebel Life – THE ULTIMATE GIFT FOR MADONNA FANS
‘A whopping biography of the pop phenomenon and queen of reinvention. Life is a mystery – hers oughtn’t to be after reading this.’ THE TIMES, ‘ biggest books for autumn’
‘It’s a mark of Gabriel’s skill that she has managed to wrestle this complex, sprawling, eventful life into a book that rarely flags and conveys its subject’s wider significance without tipping into hagiography. We come to understand Madonna the person as well as Madonna the concept: a woman who, for a generation, embodied female artistic, sexual and financial liberation.’ GUARDIAN
‘A fascinating take on one of music’s greatest icons’ BELFAST TELEGRAPH
‘Madonna built the house in which nearly all female artists now live . . . A Rebel Life brings home not just her obvious willpower and strength, but her fearlessness and sheer intelligence’ DAILY TELEGRAPH
In this exceptional biography, Pulitzer Prize finalist Mary Gabriel chronicles the meteoric rise and enduring influence of the greatest female pop icon of the modern era: Madonna.
With her arrival on the music scene in the early 1980s, Madonna generated nothing short of an explosion – as great as that of Elvis or the Beatles – taking the nation by storm with her liberated politics and breathtaking talent.
But Madonna was more than just a pop star. Everywhere, fans gravitated to her as an emblem of a new age, one in which feminism could shed the buttoned-down demeanour of the 1970s and feel relevant to a new generation. Amid the scourge of AIDS, she brought queer identities into the mainstream, fiercely defending a person’s right to love whomever – and be whoever – they wanted. Despite fierce criticism, she never separated her music from her political activism. And as an artist, she never stopped experimenting. Madonna existed to push past boundaries by creating provocative, visionary music, videos, films and live performances that changed culture globally.
Deftly tracing Madonna’s story from her Michigan roots to her rise to super-stardom, master biographer Mary Gabriel captures the dramatic life and achievements of one of the greatest artists of our time.
‘Daring to write a biography of a woman with whom the entire world is on a first-name basis, Mary Gabriel has created (astonishingly) a book neither gossip-driven nor highly snarky… she reveals instead a Madonna both more true and more unbelievably believable; a rock-and-roll suffragette… Norman Mailer once said to Madonna, ‘I’ve come to the conclusion that you are a great artist.’ Exquisitely detailed in her storytelling, Gabriel is clearly in that camp, convincing us that we all still vogue in the House of Madonna.’
Brad Gooch, author of City PoetRead more
£28.30£33.30 -
The Coming Wave: The instant Sunday Times bestseller from the ultimate AI insider
**A Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller, Sept 2023**
**SHORTLISTED FOR THE FT BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023**AI. SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY. QUANTUM COMPUTING. Everything is about to change. This is the only book you need to understand this new world.
From the ultimate AI insider, Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of DeepMind, part of Google.
‘Fascinating, well-written, and important’ Yuval Noah Harari, author of Sapiens
‘Deeply rewarding and consistently astonishing’ Stephen Fry
‘An excellent guide for navigating unprecedented times’ Bill GatesSoon you will live surrounded by AIs. They will organise your life, operate your business, and run core government services. You will live in a world of DNA printers and quantum computers, engineered pathogens and autonomous weapons, robot assistants and abundant energy.
None of us are prepared.
As co-founder of the pioneering AI company DeepMind, part of Google, Mustafa Suleyman has been at the centre of this revolution. The coming decade, he argues, will be defined by this wave of powerful, fast-proliferating new technologies.
In The Coming Wave, Suleyman shows how these forces will create immense prosperity but also threaten the nation-state, the foundation of global order. As our fragile governments sleepwalk into disaster, we face an existential dilemma: unprecedented harms on one side and the threat of overbearing surveillance on the other.
Can we forge a narrow path between catastrophe and dystopia?
This ground-breaking book from the ultimate AI insider establishes ‘the containment problem’ – the task of maintaining control over powerful technologies – as the essential challenge of our age.
‘A stunning book by a man at the very centre of the AI revolution’ Rory Stewart
‘Essential reading’ Daniel KahnemanRead more
£14.30£23.80 -
Next Level Games Review 2024: A bumper, illustrated, and annual gaming guide packed with over 150 video games – plus a special eSports chapter – the perfect gift for for teens…
Take it to the next level! Bursting with the biggest games, latest trends, and hottest news, Next Level Games Review 2024 is the ultimate annual gaming guide.
Next Level Games Review is back! Packed full of the biggest games, latest trends, and hottest news, it’s the ultimate guide to gaming.
In this year’s Games Review, you’ll find the latest news in gaming. Explore the world of eSports, go behind the scenes with gaming experts, learn all about the next triple-As or indie hits, and discover mind-blowing stats and entertaining facts on over 150 games.
Be transported to legendary gaming locations with all your favourite characters. Swing through New York City with Spider-Man, uncover Wizarding World secrets in Hogwarts Legacy, join Link as he glides through Skyloft clouds, defend the Overworld from the piglins and explore Genshin Impact’s Teyvat in this game-changing guide!
150+ GAMES: Find out surprising stats and entertaining facts on over 150 games, including Mario, Overwatch, Forza, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Roblox, Pokémon, Sonic, Final Fantasy, Madden NFL, Diablo, Fortnite, and The Legend of Zelda.
PERFECT FOR NEW GAMERS: Packed with tips and tricks for new and young gamers, plus a special glossary section so you can learn the lingo.
ESPORTS CHAPTER: Catch up on all the news and read fascinating trivia on the top eSports games, including League of Legends, PUBG, Fortnite, Dota 2, Valorant, and Overwatch.
INSIDER INFO: Get the inside take from gaming experts and learn all about your favourite game studios, including SEGA, Capcom, Nintendo, EA Tiburon, Epic Insomniac Games, and Square Enix.
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£16.20£20.90 -
Pandora’s Box: The Greed, Lust, and Lies That Broke Television
From The Sopranos to streaming: the scandalous behind-the-screens story of the TV revolution by the author of the cult film classic Easy Riders, Raging Bulls.
The revolution has been televized. From The Sopranos to Stranger Things, the shows we watch – and the ways we watch them – have been transformed over the past fifty years. Out of the bland wasteland of ‘play-it-safe’ broadcasting came astonishing stories of sex, violence, and corruption shown first on cable, and then by way of streaming. Today, the power of viewers to select what they want and when they want it is greater than ever before. In short, we are living in a new golden age of television, but golden ages don’t last forever. Revolutions have a habit of eating their own, and the era of ‘peak TV’ may have an unhappy ending.
Pandora’s Box is a major new account of the small screen from cultural critic Peter Biskind. Through exclusive, candid and colourful interviews with writers, showrunners, directors and actors, Biskind brings us face to face with the people whose creations we encounter every day on our sofas, and reveals the dynamic interplay of art, commerce and technology. We follow executives down the corridors of power and see how their money and guile cultivate, then crush creativity; we witness the making – and unmaking – of TVs biggest hits. There has never been a more exciting time in entertainment history, and Peter Biskind, the ideal insider guide, captures it all.
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£19.00£23.80 -
Ruskin Park: Sylvia, Me and the BBC
‘Ruskin Park is so much more than a memoir. It is tribute to an individual woman and a whole generation and class.’ – Justin Webb, The Sunday Times
‘Ruskin Park is Rory Cellan-Jones’s touching tribute to both his parents, but particularly to the mother he came to know more fully from the letters she left behind’ – Daily Mail
‘A captivating family detective story and a poignant social history of Britain.’ – Observer
***
Can we ever really know the truth about our parents? From the popular journalist, podcaster and tweeter about his rescue dog #SophiefromRomania comes a moving memoir in search of the truth behind his isolated childhood and absent father.
Rory Cellan-Jones knew he was the child of a brief love affair between two unmarried BBC employees. But until his mother died and he found a previously unknown file labelled ‘For Rory’ he had no idea of their beginnings or ending, and why his peculiarly isolated childhood had so tested the bond between him and his mother. ‘For Rory,’ his mother had written on the file ‘in the hope that it will help him understand how it really was …’
This is a compelling account of what Rory uncovered in the papers, letters and diaries; a relationship between two colleagues (two romantics) and the restrictive forces of post-war respectability and prejudice that ended it. It is also an evocation of the progressive, centrifugal force at the centre of all their lives – the BBC itself.
Both tender and troubling, the drama moves from wartime radio broadcasts, to the glamour of 1950s television studios, to the golden era of BBC drama. His father may have directed The Forsyte Saga and Rory may have watched him from the corridors, but he would never actually meet him until much later in adulthood. Until then Rory’s life was bound to the one-bedroom flat he shared with his mother in Ruskin Park …
‘I loved this highly evocative, unpretentious memoir. It’s a small-scale BBC drama in itself.’ – The Times
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£15.69£18.99Ruskin Park: Sylvia, Me and the BBC
£15.69£18.99 -
You May Never See Us Again: The Barclay Dynasty: A Story of Survival, Secrecy and Succession
‘A tour de force’ – Guardian
‘Forensic … Strong on financial detail’ – Financial Times
The untold story of post-war Britain. Told through the lives of the two men who helped shape it: Sir David Barclay and Sir Frederick Barclay.
You May Never See Us Again is the only definitive story of David and Frederick Barclay – commonly known as the Barclay brothers. Born poor, these enigmatic twins built one of the biggest fortunes in Britain together from scratch and spent six decades at the epicentre of British business, media and politics. Their empire, said to be worth £7bn at its height, included Littlewoods, the Ritz Hotel, The Daily Telegraph and the channel island of Brecqhou. They were major advocates for Brexit and well-connected with influential politicians including Margaret Thatcher, Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage.
And yet despite their fortune and influence, their fiercely guarded desire for privacy has meant that their story remained largely unknown – until a very public family dispute pitched Barclay against Barclay in the High Court.
Journalist Jane Martinson unravels the fascinating story of these once inseparable billionaire brothers. Through their lives she offers compelling insights into post-war Britain, from the conditions that enabled their way of doing business to thrive through to the tightly enmeshed webs of influence between capitalism, politics and the media that shape Britain today.Read more
£20.00£25.00 -
Little Guides to Style: A Historical Review of Four Fashion Icons: 17 (The Little Guides to Style: A Historical Review of Four Fashion Icons)
Containing the stories of four legendary fashion houses, this collectable box holds a beautiful set of covetable style guides.
Exploring four designers who exemplify elegance and high couture, these little books of fashion follow these brands from their creation, moving through their style evolutions, the key looks that define them and their impact on the fashion landscape today.
Discover the story behind the little black dress with the Little Book of Chanel, the tailoring behind Milan minimalism with Prada, the conception of the New Look with Dior and the genius behind androgynous maximalism with Gucci.
Featuring hundreds of exquisite images and text by best-selling authors, these definitive guides to luxury style are the perfect gift for any fashion lover.
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£33.99£50.00 -
Everything is Everything: The Top 10 Bestseller
‘Infinitely more readable than the average journalism memoir, and decidedly more important.’ – Sathnam Sanghera, The Times
‘So engaging. You feel as if he is talking to you, sharing ideas and thoughts, as if you were a friend.’ – Yasmin Ahlibai-Brown
As a Bolton teenager with a paper round, Clive Myrie read all the newspapers he delivered from cover to cover and dreamed of becoming a journalist. In this deeply personal memoir, he tells how his family history has influenced his view of the world, introducing us to his Windrush generation parents, a great grandfather who helped build the Panama Canal, and a great uncle who fought in the First World War, later to become a prominent police detective in Jamaica.
He reflects on how being black has affected his perspective on issues he’s encountered in thirty years reporting some of the biggest stories of our time (most recently from Ukraine), showing us how those experiences gave him a better idea of what it means to be an outsider. He tells of his pride in his roots, but his determination not to be defined by his background in dealing with the challenges of race and class to succeed at the highest level.
Moving, engaging, revealing, Everything is Everything is a story of love and hate – but also hope.
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£15.00£22.00Everything is Everything: The Top 10 Bestseller
£15.00£22.00 -
Normal Women: From the Number One Bestselling Author Comes 900 Years of Women Making History
A NEW STATESMEN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023
‘A lasting work of social history’ THE TIMES
‘A genuinely new history of our nation’ DAN JONES
‘This celebration of women is a triumph of popular history’ SPECTATOR
‘Philippa Gregory uses all her bestseller skills to weave a narrative with pace’ ANTONIA FRASER
FROM THE MULTI-MILLION BESTSELLING HISTORICAL NOVELIST COMES THE CULMINATION OF HER LIFE’S WORK
- Did you know that there are more penises than women in the Bayeux Tapestry?
- That the Peasant’s Revolt was started and propelled by women, protesting a tax on women?
- Or that celebrated naturalist Charles Darwin believed not just that women were naturally inferior to men but that they’d evolve to become ever more inferior?
These are just a few of the startling findings you will learn from reading Philippa Gregory’s Normal Women. In this ambitious and ground-breaking book, she tells the story of our nation over 900 years, but for the very first time women – some fifty per cent of the population – are no longer invisible in this history of England, but are at its beating heart.
Using research skills honed in her work as one of our foremost historical novelists, Gregory trawled through court records to find highway women, beggars and shepherdesses, through newspapers and diaries to find murderers and brides, housewives and pirates, female husbands and hermits. The ‘normal women’ you will meet in her pages went to war, ploughed the fields, campaigned, wrote, and loved. They rode in jousts, flew Spitfires, issued their own currency and built ships, corn mills and houses as part of their everyday lives They committed crimes, or treason, worshipped many gods, cooked and nursed, invented things and rioted. A lot. They built our society to be as diverse and varied as the women themselves. They are there in the archives – if you look – and they made our history.
‘You’ll lose count of the number of things you learn about women and their skewed place in history … the book reframes the past … an essential read’ INDEPENDENT, FIVE-STAR REVIEW
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£12.00£25.00 -
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
Originally published in 1985, Neil Postmans groundbreaking polemic about the corrosive effects of television on our politics and public discourse has been hailed as a twenty-first-century book published in the twentieth century. Now, with television joined by more sophisticated electronic mediafrom the Internet to cell phones to DVDsit has taken on even greater significance. Amusing Ourselves to Death is a prophetic look at what happens when politics, journalism, education, and even religion become subject to the demands of entertainment. It is also a blueprint for regaining controlof our media, so that they can serve our highest goals.Read more
£19.36 -
The Plot: The Political Assassination of Boris Johnson
‘A riveting read that skips along at pace. Illuminating and concerning, it lifts the lid on the tawdry world of Westminster powerbroking’ Tim Shipman, The Times
The explosive behind-the-scenes account of the plot to bring down Boris Johnson
YOU THINK YOU LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE THE ELECTED ARE CHOSEN BY THE PEOPLE.
THINK AGAIN.
When Boris Johnson came to power in 2019, he did so with the largest Conservative majority since Margaret Thatcher. Rewriting the political map, he united a party and shattered Labour’s fabled red wall. And yet, just three years later, he was ousted by the same members who had once greeted his leadership so rapturously.
What had gone so wrong?
The Plot is the seismic, fly-on-the-wall account of how the saviour of the Conservative Party became a pariah. Told with unparalleled access, from multiple inside sources talking with astonishing candour, it reveals the shocking truth about powerful forces operating behind the scenes in the heart of Westminster and those who became the architects of a Prime Minister’s downfall.
This is the story of a damning trail of treachery and deceit fuelled by an obsessive pursuit of power, which threatens to topple the very fabric of our democracy.
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£12.99
