The Internet has become a normal part of our lives and a familiar working tool. How did he appear? Who created it? How has the Internet affected the sphere of communications and the Economy? What changes in culture does the spread of the Internet lead to? How do relationships between people change under its influence? How has the structure of our daily lives changed? The book by one of the most famous sociologists of our time, Professor Manuel Castells (University of California at Berkeley, USA), answers these and many other questions based on a fundamental, comprehensive analysis. The book is intended for a wide range of readers. Manuel Castells (b. 1942), one of the most famous sociologists of our time, is a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, where he has taught sociology and urban and regional planning since 1979. Before that, he taught for 12 years at the Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Sociales in Paris. He has lectured as a visiting professor at fifteen universities around the world and as a visiting lecturer at various academic and professional institutions in thirty-five countries. Manuel Castells is the author of twenty books, including the three-volume monograph “The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture” (1996-2000), published in twelve languages. In addition, he was a member of the group of experts invited by the Russian government (1992), the EU expert group on the information society (1995-1997), and a member of the UN supervisory board on the information society (2000-2001).