The internet is a network of physical cables and connections, a web of wires enmeshing the world, connecting huge data centres to one another and eventually to us. All are owned by someone, financed by someone, regulated by someone. We refer to the internet as abstract from reality. By doing so, we obscure where the real power lies. In this powerful and necessary book, James Ball sets out on a global journey into the inner workings of the "System". From a Pulitzer Prize-winning author.