In this book Fred Inglis provides an account of the many theories which currently compete for attention in the field of public communication. Contending that the present state of the mass media can only be understood in terms of its past, Inglis gives a critical history of the media from the discovery of the phoneme alphabet to the development of satellite broadcasting. Central to this account is the communications revolution begun with Bell's telegraph in the 19th century, following the print revolution subsequent to the advent of literacy. Inglis reviews the theories which have attempted to grasp and comprehend this history, from the mass society theory of the Frankfurt Marxists to semiotics and discourse theory. He then turns to consider the place of the audience, whether viewer, reader or listener, in relation to this body of theory, analyzing the pleasures and uses of the media and media technology. In a polemical conclusion, the author argues for a humane and democratic education in which an understanding of the media and its technology should play a crucial part - becoming, in fact, the necessary attribute of the good citizen.