Cyburbia: The Dangerous Idea That's Changing How We Live and Who We Are [Hardcover]

** 'Just what the doctor ordered for a world in thrall to the online revolution: a bracing, sharp-eyed examination of how technology and the ideas that drive it are reshaping every corner of our culture. A fresh, sane and fascinating look at how we are changing - for good and ill - in the age of the Net (Carl Honore, author of IN PRAISE OF SLOW and UNDER PRESSURE )

** 'In the seventeenth century the way humans conceived of the world was radically transformed by the new mechanical philosophy that used the machine as a metaphor. In this truly fascinating book James Harkin shows how our consciousness is being reshaped (Clive Hamilton, author of SCORCHER and AFFLUENZA )

** 'Fascinating . . . essential reading for anyone who needs to understand how communication between people is being impacted by technology, and how that technology is completely changing the way we live. In other words, this book is a must-read for everyone. It will change the way you look at society, your business and even your own life (Peter Sheahan, author of GENERATION Y and FLIP! )

James Harkin's elegant re-framing of our internet culture . . . Harkin makes a convincing case (Pat Kane, INDEPENDENT )

`We are morbidly afraid of disconnection. It is, Harkin argues persuasively, both a wonderful and a sinister new stage in the evolution of human society'

`A swift-moving history. A persuasive book, and a brave step in thinking about the mess we may have all got ourselves into'

`Harkin is a fine guide to the alleys and dark spaces of Cyburbia'

How our new world - of texting, social networking, instant messaging and email - was built and how it has changed the way we relate to everything in our lives

`James Harkin's elegant re-framing of our internet culture . . . Harkin makes a convincing case' Pat Kane, INDEPENDENT

`Lively and enjoyable' James Montgomery, Financial Times

'Entertaining, engaging and well-argued . . . CYBURBIA is just the sort of corrective to the blind technology of the networked world' BBC Focus

`Harkin is a fine guide to the alleys and dark spaces of Cyburbia' Sunday Telegraph

Once there was no text messaging. No email and no social network sites like Facebook, Bebo and MySpace. The way we live has apparently been transformed by new ways of communicating. But where did these trends start? And if they can change our behaviour, can they also change the way we think? In Cyburbia James Harkin describes how the architecture of our digital lives was built over seventy years. In a brilliant narrative that encompasses the work of crackpots, inventors and visionaries, it shows how a concept that began with the need to shoot down German bombers has evolved to govern almost everything - from our lives online to modern films like Memento and 21 Grams, from TV shows and plays to military strategy. Gripping, revelatory and fiercely intelligent, this extraordinary book will change forever the way you think about everything you do.

James Harkin is Director of Talks at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London and writes regularly for the GUARDIAN and the FINANCIAL TIMES