My students enjoyed the book. Many of the historical ads West discussed in his text interested my students, with some even going online to view the older ads. The book does a good job explaining the major theories of political communication. After reading a few chapters of the text, my students better understood priming and agenda setting. They also began to think more about how ads affect the American public., West does an excellent job of providing breadth as well as details in Air Wars. My students especially respond to various concepts he develops including demonization, association, stereotyping, and code words. This allows them to apply concepts to specific ads from the last several decades. His in-depth examination of various contexts in which ads surface allows students to understand ad meanings and effects.
