The Death of the Gods: The New Global Power Grab - Hardcover

Miller, Carl

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1785151339 ISBN 13: 9781785151330

Publisher: William Heinemann, 2018

Synopsis

'Magisterial... a tour de force.' Anthony Giddens

'Essential reading.' Jamie Bartlett

'Prepare to be terrified, exhilarated and occasionally inspired.' Catherine Mayer

'Timely and incisive.' Greg Williams, Wired

'Thrilling and terrifying in equal measure.' Olivia Solon

A groundbreaking examination of the new centres of power and control in the twenty-first century.

The old gods are dying. Giant corporations collapse overnight. Newspapers are being swallowed. Stock prices plummet with a tweet. Governments are losing control. The old familiarities are tumbling down and a strange new social order is rising in their place. More crime now happens online than offline. Facebook has grown bigger than any state, bots battle elections, technologists have reinvented democracy and information wars are breaking out around us. New mines produce crypto-currencies, coders write policy, and algorithms shape our lives in more ways than we can imagine. What is going on?

For centuries, writers and thinkers have used power as a prism through which to view and understand the world at moments of seismic change. The Death of the Gods is an exploration of power in the digital age, and a journey in search of the new centres of control today. From a cyber-crime raid in suburbia to the engine rooms of Silicon Valley, and from the digital soldiers of Berkshire to the hackers of Las Vegas, pioneering technology researcher Carl Miller traces how power – the most important currency of all – is being transformed, fought over, won and lost. As power escapes from its old bonds, he shows us where it has gone, the shape it now takes and how it touches each of our lives.

Astounding opportunities are at our fingertips. But are we more powerful as individuals than ever before? Or more controlled?

About this title

Review

"A timely and incisive book that grapples with some of the most significant issues of our time. There will be countless volumes on "disruption" and "innovation" published this year, but Miller cuts through the noise and examines how the ascendancy of technology is fundamentally shifting economic models and the effect that this is having on society and individuals." (Greg Williams Wired)

"The best sort of tech book: extensive field work, accessible, and ultimately about people rather than computers. The Death of the Gods uncovers the fascinating and often hidden characters that are changing the world. Essential reading if you want to know why the old rules don’t apply any more – and what might come next." (Jamie Bartlett, author of The People Versus Tech)

"There are plenty of books on the market exploring the the insidious impact of technology platforms on democracies, but Carl’s is one of the most gripping. He takes you on a journey through Silicon Valley’s rise to power, during which you meet hackers, cybercriminals, fake news factory owners, activists and psyops agents. It’s thrilling and terrifying in equal measure." (Olivia Solon)

"A whirlwind ride through huge forces shaping and disrupting the world. Miller encounters new elites and grassroots movements, state actors and companies as big as countries, nerds and visionaries, bad men and some pretty amazing women. Prepare to be terrified, exhilarated and occasionally inspired." (Catherine Mayer, author and co-founder of the Women's Equality Party)

"A highly readable and at times disturbing account of how in the digital age power over aspects of our everyday lives has shifted from long established to new and untried sources. Carl Miller deftly guides us through the darker recesses of the modern world to meet some of the new global demi-gods that now influence our lives in ways we need urgently to understand." (Professor Sir David Omand, former Director of GCHQ)

About the Author

Carl Miller co-founded The Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at Demos in 2012 and has been its Research Director ever since. He has researched and written widely on how technology is changing society, including for Wired, New Scientist, the Sunday Times, the Telegraph and the Guardian. He is a Visiting Research Fellow at King’s College London.

About this edition

• Publisher: William Heinemann
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1785151339
• ISBN 13: 9781785151330
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 400