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Title: A Thread Across the Ocean: The Heroic Story of the Trans Atlantic Cable by John Steele Gordon ISBN: 0-8027-1364-5 Publisher: Walker & Co Pub. Date: June, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.89 (19 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: A Good Read
Comment: John Steele Gordon's A THREAD ACROSS THE OCEAN is subtitled
"The Heroic Story Of The Transatlantic Cable", and that
describes it neatly. It tells the story about how Cyrus
Field, a visionary American businessman, was able to promote
attempts to lay a trans-Atlantic telegraph cable in the
1850s, perservering through a series of failures to finally
succeed in 1867. In hindsight, it was the 19th-century
equivalent of sending a man to the Moon.
Mr. Gordon's writing style has a certain old-fashioned
flavor in that he often diverts slightly off the main story
line to, say, discuss the backgrounds of various characters
or the origins of modern corporations. I think some
might find this annoying and it does stretch out a story
that could be covered well enough in a book half this size,
but since the book is only a little over 200 pages, length
isn't really a problem. I also find that the slightly
digressive writing style helps establish a certain sense
of period, as do the occasional illustrations, which include
contemporary photographs and newspaper illustrations.
I'm not sure I'd recommend this book to everyone, since it
comes across as low-key and easy-going, and some might
find it dull. However, the story has a lot of interest in
it, and anyone who is interested in the history of
technology should probably find this a good read.
Rating: 4
Summary: 2 Dixie Cups and a LOT of string.
Comment: A thread across the ocean is the story of one man with a dream and the Herculean efforts it took to make the Atlantic Ocean and the English-speaking peoples it divides a 'pond'. Laying the transatlantic cable for the first telegraph communications from Europe to North America was an epic feat and one that deserve to be told.
We take for granted the fact that when the Queen Mother dies or the stock market in Germany drops that Americas with TVs on will known sooner than Europeans who have the set off. We take it so much for granted the seeming necessity of the global communications that it is hard to believe how few people embraced this idea after the invention of the telegraph. It was the vision of one man to span the ocean and it took him twelve years to do it.
Short on technical details and long on profiles of the men involved in the project; this is a book for those who enjoy history more than those who enjoy technology. But both groups will come away with respect for those who dreamed big dreams and made them realities.
Rating: 5
Summary: Persistence of vision
Comment: The first transatlantic cable was a Victorian era triumph that enchanted the world with its glory. The story is one of the courage and persistence of its director-in-charge, Cyrus Field, born in 1819 to a prominent family of Massachusetts. Cyrus began the charge to span the ocean when he was only 33 years old, and after several attempts, finally managed to overcome all obstacles 14 years later. The story that unfolds is one that extolls the virtuous and honorable men who made it all happen, giants whose word was their bond.
Mr. Gordon tells the story with all the enthusiasm of a child, unsullied by any trace of a fashionable cynicism or awareness of the betrayals to come. The book is nicely illustrated with lots of photos and diagrams that contribute mightily to the immediacy of reading it.
I especially enjoyed the chapter in which the final triumph occurs, and, I kid you not, at one point actually had chills run along my spine. This is a story that will awe and inspire you. Cynics and phonies need not apply.
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Title: The Frozen-Water Trade: A True Story by Gavin Weightman ISBN: 078686740X Publisher: Hyperion Press Pub. Date: 08 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: The Measure of All Things : The Seven-Year Odyssey and Hidden Error That Transformed the World by Ken Alder ISBN: 074321675X Publisher: Free Press Pub. Date: 24 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $27.00 |
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Title: Measuring America: How an Untamed Wilderness Shaped the United States and Fulfilled the Promise of Democracy by Andro Linklater ISBN: 0802713963 Publisher: Walker & Co Pub. Date: December, 2002 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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Title: Parting the Desert : The Creation of the Suez Canal by Zachary Karabell ISBN: 0375408835 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 20 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $27.50 |
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Title: Tuxedo Park: A Wall Street Tycoon and the Secret Palace of Science That Changed the Course of World War II by Jennet Conant ISBN: B00008AJCF Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: May, 2002 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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