The attention merchants: the epic scramble to get inside our heads

Introduction: Here's the deal

Part I: Masters of blazing modernities. The first attention merchants ; The alchemist ; For king and country ; Demand engineering, scientific advertising, and what women want ; A long lucky run ; Not with a bang but with a whimper

Part II: The conquest of time and space. The invention of prime time ; The prince ; Total attention control, or the madness of crowds ; Peak attention, American style ; Prelude to an attentional revolt ; The great refusal ; Coda to an attentional revolution

Part III: The third screen. Email and the power of the check-in ; Invaders ; AOL pulls 'em in

Part IV: The importance of being famous. Establishment of the celebrity-industrial complex ; The Oprah model ; The panopticon

Part V: Won't be fooled again. The kingdom of content : this is how you do it ; Here comes everyone ; The rise of clickbait ; The place to be ; The importance of being microfamous ; The fourth screen and the mirror of Narcissus ; The web hits bottom ; A retreat and a revolt ; Who's boss here?

Epilogue: The temenos.