The Virilio Reader

Over a diverse career as a professor of architecture, urbanist, film critic, military historian, and peace strategist, Paul Virilio has produced over a dozen influential books that chart new territory on the impact of new technologies on society, war and the media, the virtualization of international politics and most notably, for his theories on speed as the dominant element of modern life.Representing the next wave of French social theorists, Virilio's unique perspectives on modern society will capture the attention of the social sciences, computer sciences, communications and humanities as well as general readers interested in the impact of new technology on everyday life. In this remarkable collection of English language translations, The Virilio Reader contains five new translations: The Suicidal State, The Critical Space, The Strategy Beyond, Polar Inertia and The Desert Screen, and an interview conducted by Der Derian with Virilio in a Paris café, along with his other most influential works that have appeared over his vast career.Also includes: Military Space, The State of Emergency, A Traveling Shot Over Eighty Years, The Vision Machine, The Art of the Motor, and Continental Drift.

James Der Derian is Professor of Political Science at University of Massachusetts - Amherst. He specialises in international relations, social theory, cultural and media studies. He is the author of Anti-diplomacy: Spies, Terror, Speed and War (Blackwell, 1992).