“A stunning work of research, [Revolutions in Communication] conveys intellectual excitement and stimulates creative thinking about the social construction of communication.” ―Maurine H. Beasley, Professor Emerita of Journalism, Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland College Park, USA
“I could almost imagine myself standing next to William Caxton as the newly inked printed pages of the Canterbury Tales began to accumulate on the table next to his printing machine. Bill Kovarik’s latest work on the history of the media has brought together under one academic roof the role of technology and how it has shaped our way of life and our world. He deserves full credit for the way his words take on both colour and a sense of adventure. This work belongs on the book shelves of any university or college program in which the study of technology and its companion media has a central focus. Let it be said that Kovarik’s readers will never suffer a dull moment in this beautifully tailored work as he walks through some of the most important history of the age from the iPad to the cell phone to the Internet.” ―David R. Spencer, Professor of Information and Media Studies, University of Western Ontario, Canada
“Kovarik has the most complete understanding of media technology among journalism historians working today. It is a very interesting and useful work.” ―Mark Neuzil, Professor of Communication and Journalism, University of St. Thomas
“As an historian of both technology and the media, Bill Kovarik has made a unique contribution to our understanding of communication history. He explains how the print, visual, electronic, and digital technological revolutions have shaped communication. Equally important, he shows that that new technologies have been invented to overcome the limitations of existing media. This is fascinating reading, both for communication scholars and historians.” ―James E. Grunig, Professor Emeritus of Communication, University of Maryland, USA
“A clear benefit of the second edition Revolutions in Communication is its focus on recent technological revolutions in media. As I tell my undergraduate media history students on the first day, the one constant in professional journalism and related fields is technological change. Seeing how people in the past have dealt with change, as outlined in Kovarik’s book, offers a way of keeping history relevant while grappling with shifts in media technologies.” ―Jane Marcellus, Professor of Journalism, Middle Tennessee State University, USA
“A solid and very accessible textbook. The first edition of Revolutions in Communication does an excellent job in introducing a wide range of topics, and while the second edition maintains that, it further introduces a level of international orientation that is extremely important and welcome.” ―Glenn Ruhl, Professor in Communication Studies, Mount Royal University, Canada
“This text offers a very good and useful survey of communications systems and developments that underpins the importance of understanding the historical context.” ―Sheryl Wilson, University of the West of England, UK.
“Revolutions in Communication does what few introductory media textbooks can-it captures and engages the attention of undergraduate students through savvy exploration of the major milestones in media history and the dramatic curves in the road that some navigated, and others neglected. It is the story of circumventing technologies bypassing legal and institutional barriers and information monopolies to bring media content to mass audiences for the first time at signal moments in human history. The creativity and ingenuity of technological discovery appear alongside media’s darker uses by monopolists and propagandists. All are meticulously set in their industrial and legal contexts, often roiling with contention sparking social and political transformation-from the Protestant Reformation to the digital revolution-that would forever change the world.” ―David Dowling, Professor, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Iowa, USA
“Kovarik’s book has become a staple of media history courses across the world since its first edition. This third edition goes even further and deeper in its research scope with a comparative historical approach and with rich updated examples on all types of media technology. A must read for the public and students of all ages alike.” ―Murat Akser, Senior Lecturer in Screen Production, Ulster University, UK
“The publication briefly and clearly, yet insightfully describes the development of communication and media history from antiquity to the current present, from the first drawings in caves and the birth of the first written systems to the world of social networks today. The book presents a readable text explaining the turning points on this journey in a way that allows them to be understood even by those who have been distant from communication and media history. Therein lies the main prize of this book.” ―Pavel Vecera, Assistant Professor, Masaryk University, Czech Republic