[Tom Standage's] writing is colorful, smooth and wonderfully engaging. The Victorian Internet is a delightful book. -- Smithsonian Magazine

A fascinating walk through a pivotal period in history.

Sparkling

A lively, short history of the development and rapid growth a century and a half ago of the first electronic network, the telegraph, Standage's book debut is also a cautionary tale in how new technologies inspire unrealistic hopes for universal understanding and peace, and then are themselves blamed when those hopes are disappointed. The telegraph developed almost simultaneously in America and Britain in the 1840s. Standage, a British journalist, effectively traces the different sources and false starts of an invention that had many claims on its patents. In 1842, Samuel F.B. Morse demonstrated a working telegraph between two committee rooms of the Capitol, and Congress reluctantly voted $30,000 for an experimental line to Baltimore--89 to 83, with 70 abstaining "to avoid the responsibility of spending the public money for a machine they could not understand." By 1850 there were 12,000 miles of telegraph line in the U.S., and twice that two years later. Standage does a good job sorting through a complicated and often contentious history, showing the dramatic changes the telegraph brought to how business was conducted, news was reported and humanity viewed its world. The parallels he draws to today's Internet are catchy, but they sometimes overshadow his portrayal of the unique culture and sense of excitement the telegraph engendered--what one contemporary poet called "the thrill electric." News of the first transatlantic cable in 1858 led to predictions of world peace and an end to old prejudices and hostilities. Soon enough, however, Standage reports, criminal guile, government misinformation and that old human sport of romance found their way onto the wires. 18 illustrations. BOMC, QPB and History Book Club alternates. (Oct.)

In his first book, British science journalist Standage gives an engaging and readable account of the invention, growth, and decline of the telegraph. In the preface and epilog, Standage claims that by understanding the social changes brought about by the telegraph we can better understand the contemporary sociology of the Internet; however, he only seriously addresses their similarities in the final chapter. Instead, most of the book is a historical account, peppered with biographical, sociological, and technological anecdotes. Annteresa Lubrano's The Telegraph: How Technology Innovation Caused Social Change (Garland, 1997) investigates the same subject but takes a much more academic tone. This lay reader's history of telegraphy is recommended for public and academic libraries.--Wade Lee, Univ. of Toledo Libs., OH

. . .[M]ight be something of a bummer to all those who still think that having an e-mail address guarantees their status as hipsters. . . .[But if] you've ever hankered for a perspective on media Net hype, this book is for you.
-- Wired

The telegraph, which now seems a curious relic, was once cutting-edge technology, every bit as hot, Standage reminds us, as today's Internet. Rapid delivery of messages to distant places was a wild dream for most of history; only on the eve of the French Revolution did a workable system come into existence. That first mechanical telegraph used visual signals relayed along a series of towers; but already scientists had experimented with signaling with electricity, which was thought to travel instantaneously. By the 1830s, Samuel Morse in the US and William Cooke in England had independently developed workable electric telegraphs. Curiously, neither had much initial luck finding backers. Morse's first demonstration of his device to Congress drew no support; even after a second demonstration won him funding, many congressmen believed they had seen a conjuring trick. Despite some dramatic successes, as when British police wired ahead of felons escaping by train and had them arrested in a distant city it was some time before the telegraph was more than a high-tech toy. But by the mid-1840s, both British and American telegraphy companies were showing profits, and by the end of that decade, growth was explosive. And by then, the elaborate culture of the telegraph system was taking shape. Telegraph operators and messenger boys became familiar parts of the social landscape. There was a growth industry in telegraph-based jokes, anecdotes, scams, and even superstitions. The charge per word transmitted made messages terse; the expense made most people use them only to report deaths in the family or other grave news. Technical improvements—notably in the laying of submarinecables—eventually led to a worldwide network.

Standage, most recently (and suitably) editor of the London Daily Telegraph's technology section, competently relates all this, and the eventual erosion of the telegraph's power by the telephone, which was at first seen merely as an improvement in the telegraph. A fascinating overview of a once world-shaking invention and its impact on society. Recommended to fans of scientific history.

"Fans of Longitude will enjoy another story of the human side of dramatic technological developments, complete with personal rivalry, vicious competition, and agonizing failures." ---Therese Littleton, Amazon.com

"Fans of Longitude will enjoy another story of the human side of dramatic technological developments, complete with personal rivalry, vicious competition, and agonizing failures." —Therese Littleton, Amazon.com

09/01/2015
Standage (An Edible History of Humanity) here delivers a comprehensive and entertaining history on the invention of the telegraph. Listeners may be surprised to learn of the multiple inventors and their differing telegraphic systems that competed to become the top system in the world. The author draws many parallels between the telegraph and the Internet, discussing how they connect the world, repurpose words in our language (think about "tweet" or "feed"), and how criminals exploit new technology for illicit gain. Some of the stories Standage shares are hilarious, such as one about a woman who wanted to send her son a bowl of sauerkraut through the telegraph line. This book was originally written in 1998 but stands up today even as our current technology rapidly expands. Narrator Derek Perkins smoothly helps along passages that sometimes share a likeness to a history textbook. VERDICT A great choice for those interested in inventors and for general fans of history. ["This lay reader's history of telegraphy is recommended for public and academic libraries": LJ 9/15/98 review of the Walker hc.]—Sean Kennedy, Cleveland State Univ. Law Lib.

Tom Standage first published his history of the telegraph about a year after the once-ubiquitous machine went out of service in 2006. Derek Perkins narrates this revised version with enthusiasm for the technology that shaped the 1800s as the parallels between the telegraph and the Internet are drawn. Standage packs in lots of factual information, blending it with anecdotes. Perhaps the best is the story of a telegraph wedding conducted in two cities to evade a father's objections. Perkins delivers these stories in a voice that has sufficient gravity but that also leaves room for drama and amusement. Even listeners who think they’re not interested in the topic could find this audiobook surprisingly fascinating. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine