Communication Studies

Dad’s Army has been an enduring highlight of the small screen since its debut on British television in 1968. The show, which follows the exploits of the Home Guard of Walmington-on-Sea, a fictional seaside town on the south coast of England, ran for nine series in total, comprising 80 episodes, and regularly attracted viewing figures of over 18 million at the height of its popularity. Today, it is still shown weekly on BBC 2 and was recently placed fourth in a BBC poll of Britain’s Best Sitcoms Ever. The show has permeated British society, with the characters’ signature catchphrases (particularly Captain Mainwaring’s ‘Stupid boy!’) having entered the lexicon of popular culture. Such is its appeal that in August 2008 Jonathan Ross paid tribute to Dad’s Army with an hour-long special, looking back on the show’s success and reliving its funniest moments. Yet Dad’s Army is also credited with drawing attention to the important role that Local Defence Volunteers (later known as the Home Guard) played in the Second World War, in guarding coastal areas of Britain and other important industrial and military sites such as factories and explosives stores, and in observing and reporting enemy aircraft. Bill Pertwee found fame as ARP Warden Hodges in the series and has put together a comprehensive tribute to all aspects of the show. This book includes extensive features on the two creators of Dad’s Army, Jimmy Perry and David Croft, along with biographies of the whole cast of actors who brought this British comedy classic to life, paying particular attention to such memorable figures as Arthur Lowe (Captain Mainwaring), John Le Mesurier (Sergeant Wilson), Clive Dunn (Corporal Jones) and Ian Lavender (Private Pike). As an integral part of the show itself, Bill Pertwee is uniquely positioned to give an intimate view of his co-stars, their families and the supporting production team. His colourful account includes many hilarious incidents on and off the set, such as filming for Columbia Pictures and being invited to tea at 10 Downing Street. Numerous colour photos as well as a fine selection of well-reproduced original stills supplement the informative text, and a full episode listing is included, together with articles on the many Dad’s Army spin-offs and side projects, including the highly successful stage play, movie adaptation and radio series.

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A richly illustrated study of advertising material produced by the artist W. Heath Robinson.

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It all started when Beatle George Harrison stepped in to fund Life of Brian when Monty Python’s original backers pulled out. His company, HandMade films, went on to make some of the best British films of the 80s (Withnail and I, Time Bandits and Mona Lisa among them), but then things started to go wrong… This is the incredible and often hilarious insiders’ story of what happened…

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A history of printed cosmetics advertising throughout the 20th-century, this study charts the growth of mass-circulation magazines and how they led to a huge increase in advertising space and, by beginning of the 21st century, had to compete with those in other media such as television and the internet. Showing how advertising became the engine of capitalism that directed political destinies and even influenced international conflicts and military victories by means of propaganda, this references pays special attention to the ways in which the cosmetic advertising industry became a dominant driving force in Western culture. Eighty beautiful, full color reproductions of ads, taken from the Library of Historic Advertising, are also included in this fascinating look at the history of how cosmetics have been sold.

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Daniel Miller spent 18 months undertaking an ethnographic study with the residents of an English village, tracking their use of the different social media platforms. Following his study, he argues that a focus on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram does little to explain what we post on social media. Instead, the key to understanding how people in an English village use social media is to appreciate just how ‘English’ their usage has become. He introduces the ‘Goldilocks Strategy’: how villagers use social media to calibrate precise levels of interaction ensuring that each relationship is neither too cold nor too hot, but ‘just right’.

He explores the consequences of social media for groups ranging from schoolchildren through to the patients of a hospice, and he compares these connections to more traditional forms of association such as the church and the neighbourhood. Above all, Miller finds an extraordinary clash between new social media that bridges the private and the public domains, and an English sensibility that is all about keeping these two domains separate.

Praise for Social Media in an English Village

‘The book has definitely lived up to my expectations and changed the way I think about social media. … a truly illuminating and recommendable [reading] experience.’
New Horizons in English Studies

‘This fine study is located in anthropology, and there
will therefore be some jarring interpretations for scholars in internet,
media, communication and cultural studies. This disciplinary dissonance
is productive and potent. The concept of “polymedia” proposed
throughout the book will hold a currency far beyond this monograph and
series. This concept describes how a network of social media platforms
is used to build a communication system. Further, the key and
under-recognised change in social media in the past five years – the
intensification of visuality in social media through Instagram and
Snapchat – is handled well. Miller also captures the social function of
mobile phone cameras: “Taking a photograph has become rather like
holding a drink – a key mode by which everyone acknowledges how much fun
they are having.” …Delicately textured case studies entwine around
this local study, such as the use of social media for people with
terminal illnesses and resident in hospices. Patients can continue
conversations with family and friends, particularly with the use of a
webcam to offer (digital) face to (digital) face support. Miller’s rich
research unearths how the local use of digital media reveals
opportunities, strategies and challenges for guarding and freeing the
spaces between public and private communication.’
Times Higher Education

‘This thought-provoking publication will appeal to both the curious layperson and media scholars, no doubt igniting introspection about our own use of social media.’
LSE Review of Books

‘Based on rich ethnographic data, the book offers vivid examples of the ground-breaking discoveries made in digital anthropology in the past two decades. Miller – a recognised pioneer in this field of study – is profoundly concerned not only with the change that social media have brought to people’s lives but also the change that people make through and with social media. By situating social media in the practices and socialities of people in a particular locality, this highly readable book achieves both empirical and theoretical depth and offers a valuable piece of social science literature for students and scholars interested in social media as ways of attaining ever new possibilities of human experience and social life.’
Social Anthropology

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THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

‘This is my kind of history: carefully researched but so vivid that you are convinced Lucy Worsley was actually there at the party – or the parsonage.’ Antonia Fraser

‘A refreshingly unique perspective on Austen and her work and a beautifully nuanced exploration of gender, creativity, and domesticity.’ Amanda Foreman

Lucy Worsley ‘is a great scene-setter for this tale of triumph and heartbreak.’ Sunday Times

On the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s death, historian Lucy Worsley leads us into the rooms from which our best-loved novelist quietly changed the world.

This new telling of the story of Jane’s life shows us how and why she lived as she did, examining the places and spaces that mattered to her. It wasn’t all country houses and ballrooms, but a life that was often a painful struggle. Jane famously lived a ‘life without incident’, but with new research and insights Lucy Worsley reveals a passionate woman who fought for her freedom. A woman who far from being a lonely spinster in fact had at least five marriage prospects, but who in the end refused to settle for anything less than Mr Darcy.

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Maria Montessori was an Italian physician and educator best known for the philosophy of education that bears her name, and her writing on scientific pedagogy. Her educational method is in use today in public and private schools throughout the world. In 1947 she returned to India and gave courses in Adyar and Ahmedabad. These courses led to the book The Absorbent Mind, in which Montessori described the development of the child from birth onwards and presented the concept of the Four Planes of Development.

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