Raymond Williams

Alan O'Connor has written a timely introduction to Raymond Williams. Superbly written, accessible, and very useful. O'Connor highlights the many areas in which Williams's work remains valuable to us today. -- Robert W. McChesney, Institute of Communication Research, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign O'Connor captures the complexity of Raymond Williams's voluminous oeuvre, and brings to life the intellectual and political debates that were its driving force. From Williams's dynamic, power-laden conception of culture to his subtle analyses of technology, this book provides a much-needed survey of this important thinker's contributions to the sociology of media and communication studies. -- Rodney Benson, New York University A valuable introduction to Williams's work that is ideally suited to the needs of advanced-level students. While this book is focused on Williams's media work, Alan O'Connor's thorough knowledge of Williams's vast writings makes it a very good entry point to all of this key thinker's ideas. Crisply and engagingly written while highly informative. -- Paul Jones, University of New South Wales; author; Raymond Williams's Sociology of Culture This is a terrific addition to our knowledge of Raymond Williams's contributions to understanding culture, media, and communication. Alan O'Connor has a deep, but non-hagiographic, appreciation of Williams's work, and he shares the fruits of his long years of study with us in a lively, accessible style. He also relates Williams to a wonderful array of other writers (Gramsci, Benjamin, Fanon, Said, and many others), thereby highlighting him against many of the most stimulating thinkers of the past hundred years. -- John D.H. Downing, Director, Global Media Research Center, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale