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The Death of the Gods

The New Global Power Grab

Summary

**Winner of the Transmission Prize 2019**

THE OLD GODS ARE DYING.

Giant corporations collapse overnight. Newspapers are being swallowed. Stock prices plummet with a tweet.

NEW IDOLS ARE RISING IN THEIR PLACE.

More crime now happens online than offline. Facebook has grown bigger than any state, bots battle elections, coders write policy, and algorithms shape our lives in more ways than we can imagine.

The Death of the Gods is an exploration of power in the digital age, and a journey in search of the new centres of control. From a cyber-crime raid in British suburbia to the engine rooms of Silicon Valley, pioneering technology researcher Carl Miller traces how power is being transformed, fought over, lost and won.

‘A timely and incisive book that grapples with some of the most significant issues of our time.’ Wired

'Uncovers the fascinating and often hidden characters that are changing the world. Essential reading.' Jamie Bartlett, author of The People vs Tech

‘A magisterial guide to the impact of the digital revolution on our institutions and our lives.’ Anthony Giddens

Reviews

  • A timely and incisive book that grapples with some of the most significant issues of our time. There will be countless volumes on "disruption" and "innovation" published this year, but Miller cuts through the noise and examines how the ascendancy of technology is fundamentally shifting economic models and the effect that this is having on society and individuals.
    Greg Williams, Wired

About the author

Carl Miller

Carl Miller co-founded The Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at Demos in 2012 and has been its Research Director ever since. He has researched and written widely on how technology is changing society, including for Wired, New Scientist, the Sunday Times, the Telegraph and the Guardian. He is a Visiting Research Fellow at King’s College London.
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