In 1884, American historian and Darwin populariser John Fiske published this book on human progress via evolutionary change.

Seventeenth-century English furniture, then and now.

In this companion volume to Reading the Popular, Fiske presents a radical theory of what it means for culture to be popular.

Designed as a companion to 'Understanding Popular Culture', 'Reading the Popular' is a series of readings about today's cultural phenomena. The book highlights the conflicting responses popular culture can evoke.

Fiske's essential text aims to equip the reader with a range of methods of analysing examples of communication in our society, together with a critical awareness of the theories underpinning them.

Using the tools and techniques in this volume, it is possible for everyone with a TV set to analyse not only the programmes themselves, but also the culture which produces them. In this edition, John Hartley reflects on the development of television studies since publication of the first edition, and includes suggestions for further reading.

A comprehensive introduction to television studies. Fiske analyses both the economic and cultural aspects of television and investigates it in terms of both theory and text based criticism.