The growth of the internet has been spectacular. There are now more 1.5 billion internet users across the globe, about one quarter of the world's population. This is certainly a new phenomenon that is of enormous significance for the economic, political and social life of contemporary societies. However, much popular and academic writing about the internet takes a technologically deterministic view, assuming that the internet's potential will be realised in essentially transformative ways. This was especially true in the euphoric moment of the mid-1990s, when many commentators wrote about the internet with awe and wonderment. While this moment may be over, its underlying technocentrism - the belief that technology determines outcomes - lingers on, and with it, a failure to understand the internet in its social, economic and political context. Misunderstanding the Internet is a short introduction, encompassing the history, sociology, politics and economics of the internet and its impact on society. The book has a simple three part structure: Part 1 looks at the history of the internet, and offers an overview of the internet's place in society Part 2 focuses on the control and economics of the internet Part 3 examines the internet's political and cultural influence Misunderstanding the Internet is a polemical, sociologically and historically informed textbook that aims to challenge both popular myths and existing academic orthodoxies around the internet.

詹姆斯•柯蘭 倫敦大學戈爾德史密斯學院（也譯作金匠學院）傳播學教授、戈爾德史密斯－利華休姆媒介研究中心主任，撰寫或編著瞭21種媒介研究的著作，要者有《不需承擔責任的權力》（Power without Responsibility）、《媒介與社會》（Media and Society）、《媒介與權力》（Media and Power），均多次重印，並有五種語言的譯本；曾任加利福尼亞大學、賓夕法尼亞大學、斯坦福大學、奧斯陸大學、斯德哥爾摩大學訪問學者；2011年因媒介、市場和民主研究的學術成就而獲埃德溫•貝剋奬。

娜塔莉•芬頓 倫敦大學戈爾德史密斯學院傳播學教授、戈爾德史密斯－利華休姆媒介研究中心負責人之一，研究重點為媒介的空間、聯係和控製以及全球媒介和民主；論著重點為媒介、政治和新媒介；尤其有誌於公共文化、公共領域和民主的再思考。

德斯•弗裏德曼 倫敦大學戈爾德史密斯學院傳播學高級講師，著有《媒介政策的政治》（The Politics of Media Policy），與人閤編《媒介與恐怖主義：全球視角》（Media and Terrorism: Global Perspectives），任《全球媒介與傳播》（Global Media and Communication）雜誌編輯、哥爾德史密斯－利華休姆媒介研究中心研究員。