Influential British cultural studies scholar/socialist Stuart Hall (retired, Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, Birmingham) has been called "a cross between Jesse Jackson and the best academic you ever heard." Davis (U. of Sunderland) covers Hall's life from his 1932 birth in Jamaica, to the evolution of his critiques of popular culture and politics. Influences on him include Adorno's work on mass media and Gramsci's Marxist analysis of Thatcherism. Lastly, Hall responds to criticism over not presenting a political agenda in objecting to Tony Blair's New Labour politics. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR