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Title: A Thread Across the Ocean : The Heroic Story of the Transatlantic Cable by John Steele Gordon ISBN: 0-06-052446-4 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 July, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.89 (19 reviews)
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.
Rating: 5
Summary: Heroic Efforts In An Age Of Heros
Comment: This is a great story about the gutsy application of new technology in the pursuit of ideas considered laughable until they are proved doable. The conjunction of the development of steam ships, with the discovery of a substance called Gutta Percha, with the invention of telegraphy, reduced the time to get a message across the Atlantic from 8 weeks to near instantaneous. This book tells the gutsy story, complete with relevant as well as entertaining details.
Rating: 4
Summary: Enjoyed the read, wished for more
Comment: It was a lot of fun to read Gordon's narrative. My only complaint was the brevity of it all, but that's the problem with a page-turner, they are over too quickly.
The story is retold in terms that might remind you of the 'moon program'. A non-techie evangelist's son gets caught up in an impossible dream, but find the people that can do the job and succeeds. It is a bit too simple, but works. Like JFK, our hero Cyrus Field refuses to give up. As in 'The Right Stuff', we wade through one disaster after another, all the while waiting for victory to yield her treasures. The biographical pictures of various inventors, quacks and robber-barons ought to fascinate any but the die hard soap-opera fan. Sorry, the only marital issues I noticed were questions about how our heroic men stayed married while obsessed with this project. In very un-politically correct style, there isn't a single woman mentioned in a non-supportive spousal role.
Despite my enjoyment, I wish the book had been about 4 times longer. There was little real detail regarding the competition, science, inventions or economics. There is another page-turner available, 'Signal & Noise: A Novel by John Griesemer. It covers exactly the same territory, with more character development and female roles. Otherwise, there isn't much more than material published by the participants. The Atlantic telegraph (1865) by William Howard Russell; The story of the Atlantic Telegraph by Henry M. Field and Submarine Telegraphs: Their History, Construction and Working by Charles Bright. All three are long out of press.
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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: 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: 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: 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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