"An outstanding entry level text aimed at those with little or no cultural studies knowledge... Innovative, creative and clever."

- Times Higher Education 



"The ideal textbook for FE and first year HE cultural studies students. Its quality and character allow the reader to ‘feel’ the enthusiasm of its author which in turn becomes infectious, instilling in the reader a genuine sense of ebullient perturbation."

- Art/Design/Media, The Higher Education Authority



An introduction to the practice of cultural studies, this book is ideal for undergraduate courses. Full of practical exercises that will get students thinking and writing about the issues they encounter, this book offers its readers the conceptual tools to practice cultural analysis for themselves. There are heuristics to help students prepare and write projects, and the book provides plenty of examples to help students develop their own ideas.  



Written in a creative, playful and witty style, this book: 

• Links key concepts to the key theorists of cultural studies.


• Includes a wide range of references of popular cultural forms.


• Emphasizes the multidisciplinary nature of cultural studies.


• Includes pedagogical features, such as dialogues, graphs, images and recommended readings.


• The book's skills-based approach enables students to develop their creative skills, and shows students how to improve their powers of analysis generally.

To listen to David Walton’s musical response to Adorno's famous essay on jazz, please visit Adorno: Jazz Perennial Fashion . This song accompanies pages 64 to 66 of the book together with a series of questions designed to get readers to evaluate the positive and negative aspects of Adorno's approach.