Netflicks is the first book in UWAP’s ‘Vignettes’ series. The series’ brief is to introduce readers to contemporary scholarly thinking about pressing issues of modern life in the format of short, lucid books. Judging from the first iteration, ‘Vignettes’ promises to offer complex and coherent readings of the world we live in now, informed by deep knowledge but wearing its learning lightly. Netflicks is written in accessible prose that invites the reader into the scholarly analysis of television, should they be new to it, with clear and uncomplicated language. When technical concepts are introduced, the author makes sure to provide a definition and to justify his deployment of what might seem to be jargon.

As an academic myself, I might not be considered the best person to judge whether Netflicks succeeds in offering an accessible rendition of scholarly ideas. I am happy to report, however, that I conducted an unscientific investigation and read out paragraphs of the book to non-academic friends and family. I asked them merely whether they could follow the ideas and understand the prose in the short sections they heard (selected randomly). My listeners affirmed that my hunch was correct: that Tony Hughes-d’Aeth’s prose was cogent and engaging to the general reader.