Understanding Media
Marshall McLuhan
'He belongs to that small group of radical dreamers and thinkers who are trying to realize
and explore the altered conditions of modern existence ... When the growth of
post-Einsteinian mythologies is recorded, McLuhan's work will have its distinct place. He
stands at the frontier.' - George Steiner, The Times Literary Supplement
'Understanding Media is still the essential read on how the medium is, more and more,
the message itself.' - Nicholas Lemann, Sunday Herald
'McLuhan sings of the furthest reaches of electronic culture, when computer technology
has replaced language with instant nonverbal communication.' - Wired
When Marshall McLuhan first coined the phrases "global village" and "the
medium is the message" in 1964, no-one could have predicted today's
information-dependent planet. No-one, that is, except for a handful of science fiction
writers and Marshall McLuhan. Understanding Media was written twenty years before the PC
revolution and thirty years before the rise of the Internet. Yet McLuhan's insights into
our engagement with a variety of media led to a complete rethinking of our entire society.
He believed that the message of electronic media foretold the end of humanity as it was
known. In 1964, this looked like the paranoid babblings of a madman. In our 21st century
digital world, the madman looks quite sane. Understanding Media: the most important book
ever written on communication. Ignore its message at your peril.
Contents:
Part 1: Introduction 1. Medium Is the Message 2. Media Hot and Cold 3. Reversal of the
Overheated Medium 4. The Gadget Lover: Narcissus as Narcosis 5. Hybrid Energy: Les
Liaisons Dangereuses 6. Media as Translators 7. Challenge and Collapse: The Nemesis of
Creativity Part 2: 8. The Spoken Word: Flower or Evil? 9. The Written Word: An Eye for an
Ear 10. Roads and Paper Routes 11. Number: Profile of the Crowd 12. Clothing: Our Extended
Skin 13. Housing: New Look and New Outlook 14. Money: The Poor Man's Credit Card 15.
Clocks: The Scent of Time 16. The Print: How to Dig It 17. Comics: Mad Vestibule to TV 18.
The Printed Word: Architect of Nationalism 19. Wheel, Bicycle, and Airplane 20. The
Photograph: The Brothel-without-Walls 21. Press: Government by News Leak 22. Motorcar: The
Mechanical Bride 23. Ads: Keeping Upset with the Joneses 24. Games: The Extensions of Man
25. Telegraph: The Social Hormone 26. The Typewriter: Into the Age of the Iron Whim 27.
The Telephone: Sounding Brass or Tinkling Symbol? 28. The Phonograph: The Toy That Shrank
the National Chest 29. Movies: The Reel World 30. Radio: the Tribal Drum 31. Television:
The Timid Giant 32. Weapons: War of the Icons 33. Automation: Learning a Living
Author Biography:
Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980) Communications theorist, born in Canada. He is known as the
original "high guru" of media culture and appeared in Woody Allen's Annie Hall
as himself.
392 pages
