The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires - Softcover

'Magisterial... Wu's sharp analysis and eye for a good story will impress any thoughtful legislator. If new media laws are to be made, this book will be a key document.' - Sunday Times 'An ambitious history of the communications industries in the 20th century... these are great stories, and Wu tells them expertly.' - Guardian 'Wu is the rare writer capable of exhuming history and also interpreting current affairs. In this profound and important book, he excels at both.' - New Scientist

The Internet Age: on the face of it, an era of unprecedented freedom in both communication and culture. Yet in the past, each major new medium, from telephone to satellite television, has crested on a wave of similar idealistic optimism, before succumbing to the inevitable undertow of industrial consolidation. Every once free and open technology has, in time, become centralized and closed; as corporate power has taken control of the 'master switch.' Today a similar struggle looms over the Internet, and as it increasingly supersedes all other media the stakes have never been higher. Part industrial expose, part examination of freedom of expression, The Master Switch reveals a crucial drama - full of indelible characters - as it has played out over decades in the shadows of global communication.