In recent decades there has been an immense global surge in the numbers both of universities & of students In the UK alone there are now over 140 institutions teaching more subjects to nearly 25 million students New technology offers new ways of learning & teaching Globalisation forces institutions to consider a new economic horizon At the same governments have systematically imposed new procedures regulating funding governance & assessment Universities are being forced to behave more like business enterprises in a commercial marketplace than centres of learning In Speaking of Universities historian & critic Stefan Collini analyses these changes & challenges the assumptions of policy-makers & commentators He asks does 'marketisation' threaten to destroy what we most value about education; does this new era of 'accountability' distort what it purports to measure; & who does the modern university 'belong to'? Responding to recent policies & their underlying ideology the book is a call to 'focus on what is actually happening & the cliches behind which it hides; an incitement to think again think more clearly & then to press for something better'