'Comparative Media History' is a unique thematic textbook which introduces students to the key ideas underpinning media development. It is an essential first step to a better understanding of both the media industry today and the way in which it evolved over time. The textbook compares developments and influences from a broad perspective, highlighting and contrasting different countries, industries and periods of history in order to encourage an understanding of cause and effect. In a style which is clear, accessible and provocative, Jane Chapman argues that most of the roots of today's media - even the globalizing impulse - lie in the late 18th and 19th centuries.The book emphasises continuity and certain decisive factors such as the social use of technology, the character of the institutions in which it is applied and the political approach of the specific countries involved. The comparative element to this book, both across countries and industries, will enable students to reflect on key issues in media studies, including those of diversity, form, method and choice, both past and present. It will become an essential text for any student of the media and its history.