rbkegley 's review for:

The Victorian Internet by Tom Standage

3.0

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A nice, short history of telegraph technology, from its beginnings using chains of optical semaphores built on tall towers across the countryside, to the pinnacle of electric Morse code telegraphs. Sandwiched between these bookends, Standage discusses the impacts of this technology on the culture around it, primarily from the perspective of the US and UK. Some of the parallels he sees between the telegraph and today's Internet explosion seem strained, and the cultural stories are a little thin, even for such a short book. You get the idea that he simply ran out of material, but still had to deliver a book of a certain length. It's entertaining, but won't be finding a place on my shelves to be read a second time.