This final volume in Manuel Castells’ trilogy studies the key defining processes taking place in the last decade of the twentieth century as an expression of the crises resulting from the transition between the old industrial society and the emerging global network society.

“Every now and then one reads a book of social science that is uplifting and mind expanding. These books are ambitious and lustrous, teaching us much about our world. Such is this work from the brilliant sociologist Manuel Castells. There is no other sociological work today that brings together in one panoramic expanse so many of the changes now occurring. This is a story not simply of global economic change, but of cultural upheavals. It is a tale not simply of the decline of sovereign states, but of the emergence of the new bases of power. And it is a narrative not merely about computer technology or the media, but of the very terms in which those agents work.”
Anthony M. Orum, Contemporary Sociology

“A magnum opus if ever there was one. In my view, the finest piece of contemporary social analysis for at least a generation.”
Frank Webster, British Journal of Sociology

“A truly stunning achievement. A scholar who, with remarkable mastery, has brought his experience over a lifetime to bear on astonishingly diversified data set, pulling them together into a compelling account of the complex relationship between the progressive and the reactionary, the globalizing and particularizing forces that are transforming our perplexing world.”
Benjamin Barber, The Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Reviews