Christopher May suggests that while there have clearly been some major and important changes prompted by the information technology revolution, these are often changes only in the forms of activity and not their substance. The information age represents some marked and important continuities with previous social practices, rather than the overthrow of all that has gone before. This sceptical view balances and moderates the often hysterical celebration of the new information society – a celebration which, the author argues, often lapses into an apologia for modern capitalism.

The Information Society will be of particular interest to students in sociology, politics, political economy, media and cultural studies and information studies.