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Tom Standage

The Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century's On-line Pioneers Paperback – February 25, 2014

by Tom Standage (Author)

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A new paperback edition of the book the Wall Street Journal dubbed “a Dot-Com cult classic,” by the bestselling author of A History of the World in 6 Glasses-the fascinating story of the telegraph, the world's first “Internet.”

The Victorian Internet tells the colorful story of the telegraph's creation and remarkable impact, and of the visionaries, oddballs, and eccentrics who pioneered it, from the eighteenth-century French scientist Jean-Antoine Nollet to Samuel F. B. Morse and Thomas Edison. The electric telegraph nullified distance and shrank the world quicker and further than ever before or since, and its story mirrors and predicts that of the Internet in numerous ways.

Print length

256 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Bloomsbury USA
Publication date

February 25, 2014
Dimensions

5.1 x 1 x 7.75 inches
ISBN-10

162040592X
ISBN-13

978-1620405925
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Tom Standage is deputy editor of the Economist and the author of six previous history books, including Writing on the Wall, the New York Times bestsellers A History of the World in 6 Glasses and An Edible History of Humanity, and The Victorian Internet, a history of the telegraph. His writing has also appeared in the New York Times, the Guardian, Wired, and other publications. Standage holds a degree in engineering and computer science from Oxford University. He lives in London. @TomStandage

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bloomsbury USA; Second Edition, Revised (February 25, 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 162040592X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1620405925
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.1 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.1 x 1 x 7.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #204,808 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #57 in History of Engineering & Technology
- #129 in History of Technology
- #254 in Internet & Telecommunications

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318 ratings

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Tom Standage

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Tom Standage is deputy editor of The Economist, overseeing its strategy and output on digital platforms, including the web, apps, audio, video and social media. He joined The Economist in 1998 and previously served as Digital Editor, Business Affairs Editor, Business Editor, Technology Editor and Science Correspondent. He is a regular radio commentator and keynote speaker on technology trends, and takes a particular interest in the social and cultural impact of technology. Tom is also the author of six history books, including “Writing on the Wall: Social Media—The First 2,000 Years”; the New York Times bestsellers “A History of the World in Six Glasses” (2005) and “An Edible History of Humanity” (2009); and “The Victorian Internet” (1998), a history of the telegraph. His writing has appeared in other publications including the New York Times, the Guardian and Wired. He holds a degree in engineering and computer science from Oxford University, and is the least musical member of a musical family. He is married and lives in London with his wife and children.

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2 star		1%
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Amazon Customer

Fascinating book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 16, 2022

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Very interesting book about telegraphs and their impact on society in the 19th century. The impact on the ability to spread information fast in comparison to previous methods brought about significant changes, including social, economic and political. While I was aware of the telegraph's invention I did not know of the scope of the impact it had for its time.

Helpful

History Not Quite Repeating

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 3, 2022

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Well researched and fast moving, this decidedly non-technical read is a lo of fun. It is an amazing thought that the Victorian era had an Internet analogue. That is an over simplification, of course, but is generally accurate. The telegraphic age had hackers, scammers, millionaires, technical triumphs and huge failures. The moral of the story? History repeats -- ALMOST!

One person found this helpful

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Stephen

A remarkable tale of the telegraph, and how it relates to us today.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 3, 2009

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This is a top-notch tale of the remarkable invention of the telegraph -- and how it blossomed from nascent experimental use in France, to the creation of Samuel Morse's electric telegraph which eventually interconnected the entire planet by the end of the 19th century. In all, "The Victorian Internet" by Tom Standage is a fascinating review of the history of the telegraph and how it parallels the Internet today.

Even the title of the book indicates that the Victorian era was when the telegraph's use was at its height. People used it then much as they use the Internet today: to communicate with family and friends, expedite commerce, seek romance ... and deceive the unwitting through scams.

We often think of the telecommunications revolution as being a primarily late-20th century innovation, but this book proves this is not so. In fact, if any group can lay claim to having to endure the greatest technological paradigm shift -- it would be our forebears from the mid to late 19th century.

For prior to this point, the fastest way in which information could travel was the speed of a charging horse or fast sailboat. However, with the creation of the first optical, then later electrical telegraph, what once would have taken months to ferry a message across vast distances was cut down to a few seconds.

Moreover, the seeds for many of the inventions and modern conveniences we take for granted now (i.e. the fax, telephone, Internet, etc.) are direct descendants of the telegraph and the pioneering spirit that caused it to undergo many improvements in its design. For example, the operating principle behind the telephones we use everyday was discovered quite accidentally when Alexander Graham Bell sought to improve upon the design and capacity of an existing telegraph. And the very word "network" itself derived from the "net-works" of telegraph cable which crisscrossed the globe. [The term "Internet" itself, comes from the telegraphic idea of "interconnected networks."]

This short book is a fun and fascinating read (which I often found hard to put down), showing that the telegraph and today's Internet have more in common than we know. Thus proving what wise King Solomon had already exclaimed thousands of years ago:

"That which has been is what will be,
That which is done is what will be done,
And there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there anything of which it may be said,
'See, this is new'?
It has already been in ancient times before us."

One person found this helpful

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David C. Hay

Introduction to the modern world

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 1, 2011

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My father was born in 1908, and grew up engaged in both amateur and professional radio. All his life he tried to bring up his telegraphy speed to that required to get an "Amateur Extra" ham radio license for his home radio facility. He never made it. Then I came along and suggested that he learn ASCII, the code being used for data transmissions in the computer world. He didn't get the joke.

This book reminded me of his connection to telegraphy and made me realize both how much of modern life isn't really new--but also how recently the genuinely new stuff happened. In particular, it never occurred to me before reading this book how incredible a step it was in the nineteenth century to be able to send messages over wires. Literally nothing like it had ever occurred before.

And here we youngsters think that the internet is such a big deal. It is, of course, but the kinds of "revolutionary" characteristics we apply to it, actually had occurred before. The world seems smaller. Business can be transacted more efficiently. Romance is kindled. Both crime and crime prevention take on new aspects. Maybe world peace will be accomplished.

The book is a good narrative of what happened when telegraphy over long distances became possible. Its only shortcoming was that the descriptions of each device were too superficial. I would have liked to understand better how each one worked.

I do love the ironic note that ended the book: After the telegraph was replaced by telephones, and they were supplanted by the likes of worldwide Internet visual conferences, the new generation of youngsters are absolutely enamored with--get this!--how cool it is to be able to send text back and forth to each other! (Just this week I was talking to a colleague whose daughter refuses to speak by telephone. Anyone wanting to court her has to send a text message.)

After all, AT&T really is the American Telephone and Telegraph company.

3 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Metropolitan Critic

Superb popular science

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 28, 2011

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Standage tells the story of the telegraph in this delightful short book. It opens with a chapter on the 'optical telegraph' - the signalling system based on a network of mutually visible towers which flourished particulaly in France. After this, it traces the decisive step made by Morse, Cooke and Wheatstone in harnessing electricity to convey messages. There are fascinating chapters on the sceptics who doubted the value of the new technology; the problems of inter-continental cable laying; alternative messaging techniques such as capsules shot through tubes with compressed air; the use of the electric telegraph by criminals as well as the police; online telegraphic romance; the hopes that instant communication would lead to international conflict resolution; and the growing realisation that in fact it was an invaluable military techonology.

Finally telegraphy is over-taken by telephony, which allows a greater rapidly of communication and requires no intermediaries. The book closes with some thought-provoking remarks as to how new and revolutionary the Internet really is.

Throughout the material is admirably selected and the writing witty and clear. It is also a self-effacing book: as far as could be seen, the word 'I' (in the sense of 'Tom Standage') appears exactly once - in the acknowledgements section. Strongly recommended. His book on planetary discovery (The Neptune File) is also superb.

2 people found this helpful

JohnT

Great Book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 2, 2010

Verified Purchase

This is a fascinating book. It changed the way I think about communication and the impact of changes in the speed of communication has had on society.

In particular it convincingly argues that the telegraph and telegrams were the real revolution, in that they provided a global near instantaneous communication system which was a revolutionary change compared with anything which existed before. This was the start of a change which ultimately led to the modern internet and world wide web.

Neville Merritt

Social Networking is Not New!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 20, 2011

Verified Purchase

A brilliant little book, describing the development of the first connected messaging system, the telegraph. The story of its development, the economic, social and political impact has fascinating parallels to the present day. This book is well written and entertaining, with the help of some amusing side stories.

ChrisB

Easy to absorb . .

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 29, 2016

Verified Purchase

The story of the development of the telegraph, written to be easy to understand. Enough for most people, and a good overview.

also look at "A thread across the ocean, the heroic story of the transatlantic cable" by John GORDON

Rabey

Good lesson for any modern day IT professional

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 31, 2013

Verified Purchase

This is quite short and reads like a school text book at times. Well worth a read if you work in IT. The author is right when he says that history repeats itself with any highly disruptive innovations.

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