While grounded in theories of political communication, this insightful book provides a very useful "insiders" look at the practice of staging and scripting political events. For those students and scholars of political communication with little practical experience in the craft of doing politics, Stagecraft and Statecraft is a must read.

Mitchell S. McKinney, University of Missouri

A timely text....Valuable and worth reading....This book is informative and warrants investigation by professionals and students of media, political science, and public relations. Recommended.

Choice Reviews

Political events occur in a context, and Shill's book looks beyond the words spoken at such events to visual images, their creators and the motives behind the events. The book is richly informed by primary source documents, interviews with advance planners, and descriptions of the visuals that augment the words. Stagecraft and Statecraft challenges political communication scholars to think differently about how they research and teach about mediated political messages. Shill's analysis and the directions it provides for future study will better prepare students of political communication to think and watch critically.

Diana B. Carlin, University of Kansas