約翰•B.湯普森，英國著名社會學傢、傳媒研究專傢，現任劍橋大學社會學高級講師、基督學院研究員。他的著作對現代西方社會學乃至文化哲學界産生瞭極大的影響。主要著作有：《批判解釋學》、《意識形態理論研究》、《意識形態與現代文化》、《現代傳媒與現代性》、《數字時代的圖書》。

The world of book publishing is going through turbulent times. For nearly five centuries the methods and practices of book publishing remained largely unchanged, but at the dawn of the 21st century the industry finds itself faced with perhaps the greatest challenges since Gutenberg. A combination of economic pressures and technological change is forcing publishers to alter their practices and think hard about the future of the book in the digital age. In this book -- the first major study of trade publishing for more than 30 years -- Thompson situates the current challenges facing the industry in an historical context, analyzing the transformation of trade publishing in the United States and Britain since the 1960s. He gives a detailed account of how the world of trade publishing really works, dissecting the roles of publishers, agents and booksellers and showing how their practices are shaped by a field that has a distinctive structure and dynamic. Against this backdrop Thompson analyzes the impact of the digital revolution on book publishing and examines the pressures that are reshaping the field of trade publishing today.