Scan barcode
Reviews
Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World by Jill Jonnes
avesmaria's review
4.0
I actually read this as preparation for a book about energy use in the US because I wanted some historical perspective on the development of the electric grid. I'm not sure it ended up being relevant, but I really enjoyed it anyway!
Jonnes' book is a history of the development of electricity, both as a scientific field of study and as a product consumed on a large scale by the public. Most of the book focuses on the "War of the Currents," a phrase applied to the intellectual and commercial war of alternating and direct electrical currents, championed by Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla; and Thomas Edison, respectively. The book charts their technological developments as well as their public slandering, lawsuits, professional poaching, and very unique lifestyles. If you're looking for a biography on Tesla or Edison, this isn't it - this book really focuses on their rivalry and also the world they lived in at the time, although it does provide a lot of details about their lives. I think the book successfully describes the wonderment and excitement people felt about the development of electricity during turn-of-the-century America. It also gave me a huge appreciation for the amount of research and back-breaking labor that goes into not just developing new technologies, but making them safe and affordable for public consumption. I feel inspired to read more about the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and learn about what the world was like at that time.
Jonnes' book is a history of the development of electricity, both as a scientific field of study and as a product consumed on a large scale by the public. Most of the book focuses on the "War of the Currents," a phrase applied to the intellectual and commercial war of alternating and direct electrical currents, championed by Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla; and Thomas Edison, respectively. The book charts their technological developments as well as their public slandering, lawsuits, professional poaching, and very unique lifestyles. If you're looking for a biography on Tesla or Edison, this isn't it - this book really focuses on their rivalry and also the world they lived in at the time, although it does provide a lot of details about their lives. I think the book successfully describes the wonderment and excitement people felt about the development of electricity during turn-of-the-century America. It also gave me a huge appreciation for the amount of research and back-breaking labor that goes into not just developing new technologies, but making them safe and affordable for public consumption. I feel inspired to read more about the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and learn about what the world was like at that time.
carriethis's review
3.0
I confess that to finish this book I needed several weeks forcing myself through 20 pages a day while I ran on a treadmill. BUT I don't usually devour nonfiction anyway. So if you do, then this is a fascinating read. I wanted more about Tesla and less about business, but that wasn't the entire focus of the book, I know. I came away from it with a sense of sadness and wonder for dreamers and inventors everywhere.
darthshep's review
3.0
Overall good book I thought it would focus more on the trio than it did but it does give a good history of electricity
rmichno's review
3.0
Started off good and was compelling at times but it slowed down when it got into the weeds on patent battles and other boring details. Overall I learned a lot from the book but it took me a while to plow through it.
theonionboy's review against another edition
4.0
Pros: This is a story I always wanted to know more about. It was very well researched and covered the topic in great detail. I feel like I learned all I wanted to know about it.
I was surprised to see Edison painted in a fairly positive light, because I had thought that people who knew the whole story largely considered him less than admirable.
Cons: It seems the author just bought a very expensive thesaurus, and is determined to put every single word in it into this book. I consider myself to have a decent vocabulary, but it felt I had to look up about two words on EVERY SINGLE PAGE of this book. It waxed inordinately rebarbative. Don't say Telsa died alone and inpecunious. Just said he died alone and poor, or penniless. This was written in 2003, not 1893. Who are you writing for?
She had the annoying habit of describing the clothing and appearance of many characters frequently and in detail. It was very much out of place in a historical book. This isn't People magazine.
She seems to be very proud of the fact that she knows that the name of George Westinghouse's private railway car is the "Glen Eyre", because she tells us that over and over and over, every time he travels anywhere. Yes, we get it. I will never forget it. Now stop telling us.
Even though I like detail, I think a good editor could have taken about 100 pages out of this book. Or maybe it just felt like it dragged on too long because of the things I mentioned that annoyed me.
I debated about lowering the score even more because of my complaints, but the good points outweighed them enough not to. If you have an interest in electronics, inventions, or technology, it would be good to know the origin story that led to where we are now.
I was surprised to see Edison painted in a fairly positive light, because I had thought that people who knew the whole story largely considered him less than admirable.
Cons: It seems the author just bought a very expensive thesaurus, and is determined to put every single word in it into this book. I consider myself to have a decent vocabulary, but it felt I had to look up about two words on EVERY SINGLE PAGE of this book. It waxed inordinately rebarbative. Don't say Telsa died alone and inpecunious. Just said he died alone and poor, or penniless. This was written in 2003, not 1893. Who are you writing for?
She had the annoying habit of describing the clothing and appearance of many characters frequently and in detail. It was very much out of place in a historical book. This isn't People magazine.
She seems to be very proud of the fact that she knows that the name of George Westinghouse's private railway car is the "Glen Eyre", because she tells us that over and over and over, every time he travels anywhere. Yes, we get it. I will never forget it. Now stop telling us.
Even though I like detail, I think a good editor could have taken about 100 pages out of this book. Or maybe it just felt like it dragged on too long because of the things I mentioned that annoyed me.
I debated about lowering the score even more because of my complaints, but the good points outweighed them enough not to. If you have an interest in electronics, inventions, or technology, it would be good to know the origin story that led to where we are now.
orphius's review
informative
medium-paced
3.75
I learned tons about this era, and it's easy to see business parallels and competition tactics that we echo today in our own changes in tech.
I'm pretty used to books with complex language, but like other reviewers have mentioned sometimes the author makes word choices that overcomplicate without adding relevant new information to the reader.
For example, I would see why you might use careful language around the tech. That makes sense. But there are times the author uses very particular words for wigs during her discussion of the 18th century that do not show us anything insightful about the person she's by using that word versus just "wig."
That said, this is still a very good book of you want to learn about early electrification. I stayed with it even with the sometimes flowery language and very glad I did.
I'm pretty used to books with complex language, but like other reviewers have mentioned sometimes the author makes word choices that overcomplicate without adding relevant new information to the reader.
For example, I would see why you might use careful language around the tech. That makes sense. But there are times the author uses very particular words for wigs during her discussion of the 18th century that do not show us anything insightful about the person she's by using that word versus just "wig."
That said, this is still a very good book of you want to learn about early electrification. I stayed with it even with the sometimes flowery language and very glad I did.