In Hollywood Cinema and the Real Los Angeles, Mark Shiel explores Los Angeles from the invention of motion pictures in the 1890s to the decline of the studio system in the 1950s. Written by an expert in the history and theory of cinema and the city, this book describes the ever-changing cinematic image of Los Angeles.

Hollywood Divas, Indie Queens, and TV Heroines offers an entertaining and critical look at the representation of women in recent movies. Written in a refreshingly accessible style, the book analyzes over thirty box-office hits. The authors explore the screen personae of top st...

A lively and eclectic sequence of more than 150 concise and intellectually challenging essays in which the world's leading thinkers reflect on how the internet has changed their modes of thought.

From the co-author of the brilliant How to Sound Cultured, a wry and incisive guide to the people and ideas that have defined cool.

Three years ago columnist and author Grace Dent joined new social network site Twitter, mainly as a place to dump her surplus jokes, rant about garbage TV and post exclusive j-pegs of her hot new toenail-varnish.

Identity and Culture looks at how different cultural narratives and practices work to constitute identity for individuals and groups in multi-ethnic, 'postcolonial' societies. This book encompasses issues of class, race, and gender, with a particular focus on the mobilization of forms of ethnic identity in societies still governed by racism.

Inside Culture offers a fresh and stimulating reassessment of the direction of cultural studies. Nick Couldry argues without apology for cultural studies as a discipline centred around the interrelations of culture and power, with a clear focus on accountable empirical research that deals with the real complexities of contemporary lives - `inside' culture. Chapters discuss the broad conceptual issues around `cultures', `texts', `the self', and the individual. There are detailed discussions of a range of cultural studies authors which demystify the elaborate language of contemporary cultural studies, with suggestions for further thinking at the end of chapters.

The book investigates the ways in which state--centred approaches to international relations have limited our understanding of global, political, economic and cultural processes. By assessing a wide range of such state--centred work, Youngs identifies the challenges we must address to grasp the complexity of the contemporary world.

This book presents a framework for thinking about different forms of internet celebrity that have emerged in the last decade. Through cross-cultural case studies, the book offers a brief history of internet celebrity; analysis on recent developments in the industry; and commentary on emergent trends.

Presents an introduction to the practice of cultural studies. Full of practical exercises that will get students thinking and writing about the issues they encounter, this book offers its readers the conceptual tools to practice cultural analysis for themselves.

Taking readers from media students to media professionals, Introducing Media Practice brings together the 'why' and the 'how to' of media studies. It explains how adding theory to practice improves students' media projects, and shows them how to develop the kind of project skills they need for a career in the creative and media industries.

This text makes concrete the complexities of meaning-making and is useful reading for anyone interested in how communication works.

Offers a critical perspective on different aspects of books & print culture, such as the development of the book, the move from spoken word to written texts, the commodification of the book industry, the power & profile of readers, & the future of the book in the electronic age.

Using the royal family of celebrity culture, the Kardashians, as a lens through which to scrutinize early 21st century culture, this book examines the worlds of business, politics, technology and entertainment, to show how celebrity has fundamentally changed the way we live.

This is a one-stop introductory text for students wanting to understand the creative industries, what they are, what they do and how they affect our society.

An approachable yet critical introduction to the basics of media and communication studies from two experts in the field.

This book provides a thorough and critical introducation to the key theories of media studies. Using up-to-date case studies, it discusses a broad range of themes, issues and perspectives that inform our understanding of media production and consumption in all their cultural forms.