Wiring the World: The Social and Cultural Creation of Global Telegraph Networks (Columbia Studies in International and Global History)

This unusual history focuses not only on those who advanced transatlantic cable communication, but also on those who harbored alternative ideas. They might seem peripheral, but such struggles determined the growth of cable technology, which in turn influenced world history. Filled with fascinating characters and new insight into defining events, this book recognizes globalization's diverse paths and close ties to business and politics. __Wiring the World__ is a cultural and social history that explores how the large Anglo-American cable companies won out over alternative visions. Through telegram prices, visions for world peace, scientific innovation, and the role of the nation-state, Simone M. Müller traces globalization's diverse paths and close ties to business and politics. The successful laying of a transatlantic cable in 1866 remade world communications. A message could travel across the ocean in minutes, shrinking the space between continents, cultures, and nations. An eclectic group of engineers, entrepreneurs, politicians, and media visionaries then developed this technology into a telecommunications system that spread a particular vision of civilization—but not everyone wanted to wire the world the same way. Wiring the World is a cultural and social history that explores how the large Anglo-American cable companies won out over alternative visions. Bitter rivalries emerged over telegram prices, visions for world peace, scientific innovation, and the role of the nation-state. Such struggles determined the growth of cable technology, which in turn influenced world history. Filled with fascinating characters and new insights into pivotal events, Wiring the World traces globalization's diverse paths and close ties to business and politics. Acknowledgements Introduction: actors of globalization and the wiring of the world Atlantic beginnings : the class of 1866 and the formation of "telegraphic" networks Come to wire the world : world economy and the battle for Atlantic cable supremacy The imagined globe : of the electric union, universal peace and the "great civilizer" Weltcommunication : economic intelligence, global news and "social messaging" The world's telegraphic knowledge and the professionalization of the telegraph engineer The politics of the world's electric nerves : strategic nationalism, cable diplomacy, and imperial control Conclusion: the class of 1866 and globalization Appendix: the actors' biographies Bibliography. 'Wiring the World' is a cultural and social history that explores how the large Anglo-American cable companies won out over alternative visions. Bitter rivalries emerged over telegram prices, visions for world peace, scientific innovation, and the role of the nation-state. Such struggles determined the growth of cable technology, which in turn influenced world history. Filled with fascinating characters and new insights into pivotal events, it traces globalisation's diverse paths and close ties to business and politics. Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: The Class of 1866 1. Networking the Atlantic 2. The Battle for Cable Supremacy 3. The Imagined Globe 4. Weltcommunication 5. The Professionalization of the Telegraph Engineer 6. Cable Diplomacy and Imperial Control 7. The Wiring of the World Appendix: Actors of Globalization Notes Bibliography Index