The reader is given an introduction to the theories of Howard Rheingold, Anthony Giddens and John B Thompson and Slevin punctuates his thesis with their ideas. The academic theory tends to burden thought-provoking discussion of the practical, like how the BP Amoco Web site affects the world of work, an analysis of how the 10 Downing Street site might change politics, and questions such as, what does having your own homepage do to your personal sense of identity?

Regulation, globalization, new forms of human association: all the thorny issues are examined and illustrated by random vignettes about people who have had long distance e-mail relationships or governments anticipating political problems with the Web. (For example, having fought off the influence of the baleful English-speaking film industry, how are the French going to deal with the Internet?) Slevin has written a book which begins to define the academic terrain for discussion of the impact of the Internet, but cyber library dust may gather quickly on this particular tome.--Brian Jenner

Synopsis
The Internet and Society explores the impact of the internet on modern culture beyond the fashionable celebration of 'anything goes' online culture or the overly pessimistic conceptions tainted by the logic of domination. In this major new work, James Slevin develops an original account of the internet and relates it to the analysis of culture and communication in late modern societies. Slevin offers a critical appraisal of contributions to the study of the internet and its related networks such as intranets and extranets. He argues that these studies fail to deal adequately with the nature of communication and its role in an increasingly uncertain world. Slevin addresses this deficiency by elaborating a distinctive social theory of the internet and its impact. He develops his argument by offering an in-depth examination of the connections between the rise of the internet and new issues concerning the state, political and economic organization, the process of self-formation, globalization, publicness, regulation and, above all, the management of risk and uncertainty.

Throughout the book, James Slevin relates his analysis of the internet to a variety of substantive examples of internet use from around the world and sets out and redefines the tasks for further study. This book will be of interest to second-year undergraduates and above in media and communications studies, cultural studies, sociology and social theory and students and academics across the social sciences who are interested in the impact of new communication technologies.

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