Essential McLuhan brings together in one concise volume key writings by Marshall McLuhan, the hugely influential guru of the mass media. Today, in a communications environment transformed by the rapid spread of electronic media, McLuhan's insights are fresher and more applicable today than when he first announced them to a startled world in the 1960s. A whole new generation is turning to his work to understand a global village made real by the coming of the information superhighway.This comprehensive collection includes extracts from McLuhan's famous books Understanding Media and The Gutenberg Galaxy, as well as selections from his other books, articles, correspondence, interviews and published speeches. There is also a 'sourcebook' of key quotations drawn from the whole body of McLuhan's work, and a full bibliography of writings by and about McLuhan.