Jaap van Ginneken's study explores the social and intellectual history of the emergence of the field of crowd psychology in the late nineteenth century in France and Italy. Both the popular work of the French physician LeBon, considered the "father" of this field, and his predecessors are shown to be influenced and closely connected with the dramatic events and academic debates of their day. Although LeBon is generally thought of as the creator of the field of crowd psychology, this study demonstrates how he derived most of his key concepts from immediate predecessors, without acknowledging...

Did you know that Pocahontas probably never fell in love with John Smith, as the Disney and other film versions of those events pretend? That Godzilla was originally an anti-American and anti-nuclear movie, heavily cut and supplemented with new material? That Zorro was not created by an American author but derived from the much older Mexican struggle for independence? That Anna and the King was largely invented? That the myth of the sexually eager Hula girls is based on misunderstandings by the first explorers? That Black Hawk Down and many other war movies were censored and indirectly...

Did you know that Pocahontas probably never fell in love with John Smith, as the Disney and other film versions of those events pretend? That Godzilla was originally an anti-American and anti-nuclear movie, heavily cut and supplemented with new material? That Zorro was not created by an American author but derived from the much older Mexican struggle for independence? That Anna and the King was largely invented? That the myth of the sexually eager Hula girls is based on misunderstandings by the first explorers? That Black Hawk Down and many other war movies were censored and indirectly...

Understanding Global News provides a lively, critical introduction to news media and challenges the often unquestioned notions of media objectivity. By employing a range of theoretical perspectives and a variety of examples, the author demonstrates the way in which our perceptions of the world are constructed by the news media.

A Volume in the European Institute for the Media Series This is the first book to demonstrate the relevance of chaos and complexity theory to communications. The dynamics of the title reflect the way collective behaviour is influenced by these theories. The book is very topical and contains a large number of international examples of collective behaviour phenomena, some very recent.

This book tests the disquieting hypothesis that our most powerful leaders acquire strange quirks at the top, making them take unnecessary risks. The author scrutinizes some of the best-known politicians of the largest western or G6 nations over the last half century, when they approached or reached the highest executive office, such as Berlusconi, Bush, Clinton, Kennedy, Reagan, Thatcher and others. All gave in to a slightly amended version of the seven temptations or mortal sins: Lust or sexual obsession, Gluttony or substance abuse, Greed or hidden corruption, Wrath or power abuse, Denial...