The Image Empire: A History of Broadcasting in the United States, Vol. 3: From 1953 [Hardcover]

Erik Barnouw (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195012593 | ISBN-13: 978-0195012590 | Publication Date: November 15, 1970 | Edition: First Edition (NAP)

During the iQSo's, in a frontier atmosphere of enterprise and sharp struggle, an American television system took shape. But even as it did so, itspioneers pushed beyond American borders and became programmers to scores of other nations. In its first decade United States television was already a world phenomenon. Since American radio had for some time had international ramifications, American images and sounds were radiatingfrom transmitter towers throughout the globe. They were called "entertainment" or "news" or "education" but were always more. They were a reflection of a growing United States involvement in the lives of other nationsan involvement of imperial scope. The role of broadcasters in this American expansion and in the era that produced it is the subject matter of The Image Empire, the last of three volumes comprising this study.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 396 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; First Edition (NAP) edition (November 15, 1970)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195012593
• ISBN-13: 978-0195012590
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #550,141 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Weakest of the series, August 1, 2009

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Tom in Texas (Plano, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Image Empire: A History of Broadcasting in the United States, Vol. 3: From 1953 (Hardcover)

This book is the first book in a three book series that covers the US broadcasting business from its formative years up through the present at the time that the author wrote the series (which is now almost 40 years ago).

The first two volumes are outstanding both as a history of the business, but also for their insight into the political and cultural environment in which radio broadcasting took shape in the US. The third book also contains some interesting insight, especially into the role of television in first enabling the communist witchhunts, and then in bringing down the chief instigators of the witchhunts. Unfortunately, as the book moves into the sixties, it gets bogged down in the ideological battles that were still going on when this book was written (publication date is 1970). Consequently, this book has less to offer than the first two in the series did.

5.0 out of 5 stars Good information, November 23, 2009

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CRC - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Image Empire: A History of Broadcasting in the United States, Vol. 3: From 1953 (Hardcover)

I first encountered these volumes while taking a graduate level broadcasting class. Barnouw packs a stunning amount of information into these books. If you are doing research on broadcasting history in the United States these are a great resource.