The first authoritative study of the life and work of French urban and cultural theorist Paul Virilio, this book sets out to explain and analyse what Virilio has actually said over the years and exactly when he said it, correcting many mistaken interpretations along the way. Paul Virilio recently retired from his Chair at the Ecole Speciale d'Architecture in Paris but remains an active political and cultural thinker and commentator with a major back catalogue of work stretching back to the 1950s. The book reviews the whole of his intellectual career, from his days hanging out in an architect's office in the 1960s to the creator of a major art foundation exhibition on 'the accident' in the wake of September 11. Virilio has become known as the high priest of speed and certainly his discourses on speed, military technology and modernity are central to an assessment of his writing, but he has contributed his 'logic bombs' to many other fields, too - media theory, international relations, art history, cultural politics, architecture and peace studies to name but a few.
This book is a rigorous but accessible introduction to Virilio and places him in the pantheon of critical thinkers in today's accelerated culture. Features: *The first comprehensive study of the work of Paul Virilio *Accessibly written for a wide-ranging audience *Includes a bibliographical guide to reading Virilio.