The unparalleled global distribution of books, television programs and other cultural products would seem to augur well for the diversity of ideas and creative expression. Yet ever more of this flow is concentrated in the hands of fewer giant corporations, significantly American controlled, whose agenda is not pluralism but profit.

Clearly written, impeccably researched and passionately argued, Blockbusters and Trade Wars focuses upon the market dynamics that drive ever-greater audiences to "blockbuster" films, TV programs, books and recording artists-at the expense of independent, alternative and increasingly necessary national voices.

Peter S. Grant was born on November 26, 1941, and grew up in Kapuskasing, Ontario. He enrolled in Victoria College at the University of Toronto, and in addition to studying political science and economics – and later law – he spent two summers in the “Arrangers Workshop” at the prestigious Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.

After being called to the bar in 1969, Grant joined McCarthy & McCarthy, currently McCarthy Tétrault, one of Canada's largest law firms. Grant has since been instrumental in establishing the field of communications law in Canada, working as and Special Counsel to the CRTC, consulting for UNESCO, and acting as the Broadcasting Arbitrator for Canada. He is the author of numerous articles and publications, including the Canadian Broadcasting Regulatory Handbook as well as Blockbusters and Trade Wars: Popular Culture in a Globalized World, co-authored with Chris Wood. He currently sits as Counsel at McCarthy Tétrault, and as Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto and York University. He lives in Toronto.

Peter Grant's profile page

Chris Wood has worked as a full-time journalist, mainly in magazines, for over thirty years, with stories featured in Maclean's, the CBC, the Globe & Mail, and most recently, The Tyee, The Walrus and Reader's Digest Canada. Wood's most recent book, Dry Spring:The Coming Water Crisis of North America, published in April 2008, has been called arresting, vivid, provocative, and, a great read by reviewers and media. He is the author of six other books, including an award-winning Young Adult Fiction series with my wife, Beverley Wood. He lives in Ladysmith, British Columbia.

Chris Wood's profile page