Customer Reviews

The Columbia History of American Television (Columbia Histories of Modern American Life)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Professor Edgerton provides an excellent history of American television, providing his unique insights as a media expert in an engaging writing style that is enjoyable yet scholarly. The book is filled with antidotes and critical events that tell the fascinating story of American's favorite pasttime. The book will be valuable both to those who seriously study television and to media professionals who create and produce television. American and international students and educators will also find the book especially insightful about the important role of television in American society. As a scholar and media practitioner who has studied television around the world for the past 20 years, I highly recommend it.

I ordered this book (and I thought I ordered it used) but it came wrapped up twice in bubble wrap and brand new. It was the right book, so there really isn't much to review about!

Most people are not aware that the technology of sending images and sound over the airwaves was well underway prior to the outbreak of World War II. The demands of the war effort were what delayed the introduction of television to the American population until after the war's end. In "The Columbia History Of American Television", Gary R. Edgerton (Professor and Chair of the Communication and Theater Arts Department at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia) lays out the developmental history of television beginning with its pre-war inception, then takes the reader through the Network Era, then the Cable Era, and concludes with an examination of the current Digital Age of television. Along the way, Professor Edgerton addresses an enormous number of relevant issues such as television as an art form, its impact on American popular culture, its gender, racial, and ethnic components, its impact on politics and social issues, its effect as a commercial venture for the American economy, and so much more. A seminal work of meticulous scholarship, "The Columbia History Of American Television" is a welcome and highly recommended addition for academic and community library American Popular Culture reference collections, as well as an informed and informative work suitable for non-specialist general readers with an interest in the history of television in America.

I couldn't be happier with this purchase. I originally purchased from someone else and the day that classes started I got a message from the seller saying that they weren't shipping it. So I quickly found this seller, ordered the book, and it arrived in no time at all for the same price. Great service, thank you!

I got my order right on time, and even quicker then i thought. The book was in great condition. I will definitely buy from this seller again.