RKO Story

Customer Reviews:

More than your average coffee table book.......2003-05-23

The author was given access to RKO records that had been unseen for decades. This book combines the beautiful photos of any number of Hollywood studio coffee table books with the insights of a great storyteller and cinema historian. Highly recommended for the film fan - wherever you can find it.

Mr. Lincoln's T-Mails: The Untold Story of How Abraham Lincoln Used the Telegraph to Win the Civil War

Average customer rating:

The E-Mail of the Civil War
A new means of communication
Moving Washington Electronically to the Battlefield
Jarring Juxtapositions...
Approximately right, precisely wrong

Mr. Lincoln's T-Mails: The Untold Story of How Abraham Lincoln Used the Telegraph to Win the Civil War
Tom Wheeler
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 006112978X
Release Date: 2006-10-31

Book Description

Abraham Lincoln's two great legacies to history –– his extraordinary power as a writer and his leadership during the Civil War –– come together in this close study of the President's use of the telegraph. Invented less than two decades before he entered office, the telegraph came into its own during the Civil War. First it was an instrument of military command and control; then Lincoln seized upon it as a means to take the reins of his generals and lead the war effort. In a jewel–box of historical writing, Wheeler captures Lincoln as he encountered this tool and adapted his floksy rhetorical style to the telegraph creating an intimate bond with his generals, especially Ulysses S. Grant.

MR. LINCOLN'S T–MAILS will follow a naturally gifted writer –– remember, he is the author of the Gettysburg Address –– with a plain style as he learns to use this intimate and far–reaching new–medium.

Customer Reviews:

The E-Mail of the Civil War.......2007-05-21

My interest crept up on me, as I read this book. The focus upon the t-mails alone, initially gave me the sense that the author's choice of direction could become too narrow. But, in Lincoln's own words, as he dealt with his general problem, it becomes clear what a great insight into Lincoln's thinking this approach reveals. Lincoln's management skills, his understanding of human nature, and his resolve to find men who were as focused as he, in destroying Lee's army...are all displayed directly and clearly through his t-mails...including the ones never sent.

His dissatisfaction with his generals leads him to question, to criticize, and finally, even to direct. Today he would have been accused of micro-management....something anathema to the current occupant of the White House. It's through his t-mails that he comes to deeply know and understand their many limitations....and through those same t-mails that he learns the type of men required to win the Civil War. Lincoln then acts decisively in removing the incompetents.....and then, and only then, finally gets the generals he deserves in Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan. His latter t-mails demonstrate his great respect, gratitude, and relief as he allows these generals a wider birth to act.

It's a fine book....to the point, insightful, and leading to a conclusion. Lincoln simply camped out every day at the telegraph office, and Tom Wheeler takes us into his mind....through his communications. T-mail was the e-mail of the Civil War.

A new means of communication.......2007-04-04

This is an easy to read, informative book. Lincoln was the first president to use telegraphy duing wartime to confer with and/or direct his armies. In this age of modern communication we tend to forget how difficult it use to be. The telegraph was invented at the right time and Lincoln was in the right place and of the right frame of mind, to take a giant step forward. This is an interesting history of how Lincoln learned to communicate during a war and how he inserted himself into the conflict.

Moving Washington Electronically to the Battlefield.......2007-03-22

The author, Tom Wheeler, tells the fascinating story of how Abraham Lincoln employed the telegraph to help win the Civil War, narrating Lincoln's use of the telegraph from Secession to Lee's surrender. The telegraph was less than twenty years old when the Civil War began; and while railroads, newspapers, and financial markets used the telegraph, the Federal Government made limited use of the telegraph's lightning speed to transmit messages to distant locations. Lincoln made minimal use of the telegraph during his first year. However, in 1862 Lincoln began his growth as an electronic leader; in January 1862, for the first time, he "used the telegraph to communicate a direct order." Lincoln found his electronic voice in 1862.

Most important, in 1862 the hub of the telegraph network was moved from Army headquarters to the civilian-run War Department next to the White House where Lincoln was in frequent contact with its unfiltered messages. By daily reading all messages received regardless of to whom they were addressed, Lincoln gained detailed information of events on the battlefields. By injecting himself by telegraph into those activities, "whether invited or not, Lincoln maintained his virtual presence in the headquarters of his generals." From this information he developed his leadership abilities to direct, chastise, praise and motivate his field commanders. The author notes "From May 24" (1862) "forward, through the remainder of his presidency, the telegraph was an integral part of Abraham Lincoln's leadership."

The text gives an interesting chronicle of Lincoln's developing use of the telegraph as the Civil War progressed and notes "Here is the amazing fact: Abraham Lincoln applied telegraph's technology to create advantages for the Northern war effort entirely on his own." There was no precedent for him to follow. "The telegraph began to knit together a geographically disparate nation." With the press using the telegraph, for the first time the government let alone a government at war, was confronted by a well-informed constituency. Censorship policies had to be developed while at the same time informing the public. Since military telegrams could be intercepted or false messages sent, complex codes were used for encrypting important transmissions while other messages moved without code or with a simple code. Lincoln's dealing with the wartime press was a political priority which he effectively used. The largest single topic of the telegrams President Lincoln's sent, dealt with the appeal of military court martial death sentences.

When General Grant became general-in-chief, he and Lincoln soon developed workable telegraphic communications. Their use of the telegraph during a military threat to Washington, after some misreading, was effective. By telegram Grant stated he could provide strategic command while an onsite field commander would provide tactical direction.

The telegraph was exploited by Lincoln for his re-election in 1864. He also exploited the telegraph to talk politics with his generals. Ultimately the telegraph's lightning speed allowed for rapid dialog between Grant and the president thus greatly assisting the surrender of Lee's army on April 4, 1865.

In the last chapter the author states "The story of Lincoln's experience with the telegraph is yet another example of his capacity for growth, including his ability to change as circumstances (including technology) warranted. . . . We are the beneficiaries of Lincoln's electronic revolution."

The Union commanders were not "out there" alone but were well observed and occasionally directed by the president. The reader will find this work both informative and interesting

Jarring Juxtapositions..........2007-03-16

This book gives some good insight into Lincoln's learning to lead from afar as he realized what the telegraph could do. He particularly used it to prod over-cautious generals, and backed off its use some when he got competent commanders in place.

If the book stopped there, it would have been fine and interesting. However, Wheeler has a need to surround Lincoln with present-day business book pablum language... "Management by Walking Around" "Electronic leadership." "Getting his management team in place." I found these jarringly out of place and truly trivializing perhaps the finest President we have known. If you want a true look at Lincoln as a developing leader, read Doris Kearn Goodwin's "Cabinet of Rivals" and find out how Lincoln took all his most serious rivals and detractors into his cabinet because he needed the best America had to offer. There are plenty of quotations and direct written material there without the biz school jargon.

Approximately right, precisely wrong.......2007-03-15

An interesting perspective on the earliest wartime usage of "electronic" communication. Today's commonly held notion is that "information is power". But information is, at best, but a child of communication. As all would have to agree, information that is not communicated is...nothing. Lincoln knew this only too well - and long before he knew of T-Mail. His mention of "connecting trains" at Cooper Union makes this quite clear.

Interesting as this work is, somewhat troubling is either the author's lack of understanding of Abe Lincoln, or - potentially more troubling still - his attempt to "casually" recast the substance of the man. The first clue that something is amiss comes at page 96. Regarding free press, Mr. Wheeler states that this right was "at the core of the Constitution that Lincoln was trying to preserve". Not quite true. As Gary Wills ("Lincoln at Gettysburg") so effectively illustrated, Lincoln believed that the Declaration of Independence was the country's true founding document. Lincoln's focus was on "the Union" and its preservation. While this "Union" certainly drafted and adopted the Constitution, for Lincoln the "Union" was the core concept - the reality which, if destroyed, would render any constitution, however magnificent, meaningless. Is this just a bit of technical nit-picking? I don't think so.

Adding to the "haze", a bit later in this work Mr. Wheeler attempts to coerce Lincoln into the "just another politician" mold, suggesting, among other things, that his requests that his generals use their "best judgement" was motivated by blame-aversion and political self-preservation. In short, the more I read the more I wondered just how Mr. Wheeler came to his presentation of the truly great man that Abe Lincoln was, and remains. In summary, while the concept of this work is interesting and well-developed with respect to Lincoln's use of the telegraph, its treatment of Abraham Lincoln himself is, at a minimum, suspect.

The Visual Story: Seeing the Structure of Film, TV and New Media

Average customer rating:

Simply Invigorating
A clear and insightful guide to seeing the visual structure of moving images
underwhelming
Better than I thought
A very well thought-out book on symbolism in the media, basically

The Visual Story: Seeing the Structure of Film, TV and New Media
Bruce Block
Manufacturer: Focal Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0240804678

Book Description

The Visual Story offers students and professionals in cinematography, production design, directing and screenwriting a clear view of the relationship between the story/script structure and the visual structure of a film or video. An understanding of the visual components will serve as the guide in the selection of locations, set dressing, props, wardrobe, lenses, camera positions, lighting, actor staging, and editorial choices.

The Visual Story divides what is seen on screen into tangible sections: contrast and affinity, space, line and shape, tone, color, movement, and rhythm. The vocabulary as well as the insight is provided to purposefully control the given components to create the ultimate visual story. For example: know that a saturated yellow will always attract a viewer's eye first; decide to avoid abrupt editing by mastering continuum of movement; and benefit from the suggested list of films to study rhythmic control. The Visual Story shatters the wall between theory and practice, bringing these two aspects of the craft together in an essential connection for all those creating visual stories.

*Encourages the filmmaker to develop a "visual vocabulary"

*Shows the filmmaker how to structure visuals, communicating moods and emotions with style and variety

Customer Reviews:

Simply Invigorating.......2007-08-23

After reading this book, I have a greater sense of cinematography and am surprised at how easily this came. Bruce Block explains the visual construction in a simple way by using common concepts to tie every element of a production together in an easy-to-use package. I have not only been able to identify the concepts as I watch film, but apply the concepts in all my design arenas. I highly recomended this book!

A clear and insightful guide to seeing the visual structure of moving images.......2007-08-09

"The Visual Story" really is unlike anything out there for its emphasis on the ways in which the structure of an image or of images in sequence -- its shape, its apparent spatial dimensions, its movement, its complexity, its rhythm and texture, its color dimensions -- can all work together to support the emotional and thematic dimensions of the story it aims to tell. His explanations are simultaneously simple and insightful, and spending time with this book can really open your eyes to the wide range of ways in which moving images can be meaningful at a level that can be independent of the actual content of the image (who is in it, what is being shown). Essential reading for filmmakers who aspire to take advantage of the potentials of the medium, this book would also be enormously revealing and useful for students of film, for film lovers, and even for those who have a broad interest in the visual arts. His chapters on space and on color, and his discussions of their emotional as well as their formal content, are especially valuable and full of insight. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

underwhelming.......2007-07-12

Bruce Block opens his book by claiming that he is drawing upon the teachings of Eisenstein. He isn't. The vast majority of the book is given to analyzing the "hidden lines" within images. Unfortunately, there is a catch. The hidden visual structure within an image may have some kind of resonance - I'm not really sure, but it seems to me to be sister to the kind of "the work of Virginia Wolf analyzed in meta-postmodern-structuralism," analysis that obscures, rather than illuminating, the essential elements that make a given work of art/lit/film succeed.

Film is made of story, sound, image, and cut - I suppose that it isn't Block's fault that he chooses to focus on overanalyzing just one of those categories, but I do wish that the film school grad who recommended that I read this book had not.

Refund.

Better than I thought.......2007-06-26

I had to get this book for a class I'm taking (Visual Language of the Moving Image) at UCF. Like most books that we are required to purchase, I wasn't too happy about it... But, honestly, this one is different. It is very well written and illustrated. I actually love this book. Bruce Block knows his stuff, and, more importantly, he knows how teach it.

A very well thought-out book on symbolism in the media, basically.......2007-06-08

I bought this book along with "If it's Purple, Someone's Gonna Die." This book ("Visual Story") is the more scholarly and useful of the two, while "Purple" is an easier read.

If you are a critic or student of film-making, this book definitely is a must-have. It's got great info on "why." So many books are centered around "how."

"Why" is more important than "how."

Descriptive, though pedestrian illustrations. Clean, honest writing. Easy to understand. Slightly dry. It would be nice to have more real-world examples, but that get's very difficult to get all of those movie and TV show clearances, so I understand why they're not there, but it would have definitely made the book much more interesting.

Average customer rating:

Paramount Story
John Douglas Eames
Manufacturer: Random House Value Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

History of Technology | Technology | Science | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0517553481
Release Date: 1987-05-12

The Nokia Revolution : The Story of an Extraordinary Company That Transformed an Industry

Average customer rating:

A staggeringly in-depth study of a fascinating company
NOKIA -- More Cameras than KODAK in the World....
Heavy book and heavy reading
The revolution of Nokia's ideas
a good lesson for businessmen

The Nokia Revolution : The Story of an Extraordinary Company That Transformed an Industry
Dan Steinbock
Manufacturer: Amer Management Assn
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 081440636X

Book Description

Tucked away in one of Europe's most far-flung corners, the Finnish Nokia Corporation has emerged in the past decade from near-obscurity to become a global powerhouse in mobile communications and a leader in the development of third-generation wireless services.

How did they do it? How did the 140-year-old company manage to survive the political upheavals of its age? What re-creations did the company undergo as it moved from forest-industry enterprise to European technology conglomerate to global cellular phone maker--and now, to its latest incarnation, as a mobile Internet vendor?

The Nokia Revolution probes behind the company's official, often enigmatic veneer to uncover how Nokia operates, how its chief executives think, and how it listens to the pulse of the market. As such, it is the first strategic study of this extraordinary company, focusing on the way Nokia has built its existing capabilities into competitive advantages.

The book probes far beyond the breezy articles and lightweight press release recyclings. It concentrates instead on the company's extraordinary historical evolution, the creation of its global focus strategy, and the innovations that are preparing Nokia for a mobile information society.

The Nokia Revolution transcends the immediacy of a single company or industry profile. It offers keen insights into what it's like to compete in a fast-cycle, cutthroat, volatile environment. And it offers compelling lessons for both established industry leaders who need to sustain and renew their marketplace dominance and upstarts seeking to topple the giants.

Customer Reviews:

A staggeringly in-depth study of a fascinating company.......2006-03-04

There is no doubt that Nokia has grown from a small Finnish firm into the worldwide leader in cellular and mobile communication technology. How did the firm accomplish this revolution? In this book, Dan, Steinbock, answers this question by tracing the history of Nokia. Looking at the steps Nokia took, including the missteps, the author accurately traces both huge successes, and mistakes. More importantly the author shows how Nokia learned from its mistakes and came back from each misstep stronger. The author hits on some key factors that make Nokia such a strong firm:

· Strategic Intent. In an ever changing market, learn how Nokia took some early missteps. These missteps made Nokia stronger because in 1992 these missteps forced Nokia to move toward process-based management. It used this style to successfully transfer a strategic intent that would motivate every employee.
· Global Focus. Nokia's leadership recognized that in this new environment, the ability to segment markets and target niche segments within those markets was critical to success. In order to compete, Nokia would need to focus globally.
· Strategic Market-Making. With the dynamic market of cellular technology, Nokia's executive board managed to discover and implement a strategy that delivered success.
· Focus on People. Nokia treated its Human Resource management as a strategic issue. Nokia focused on utilizing a drive to achieve customer satisfaction, a respect for the individual, a willingness to achieve and belief in continuous learning, and by encouraging sharing of information and responsibility.
· Global R&D. Nokia spends less than its rivals on R&D. What there efforts lack in funding, they make up for with an efficient system to leverage and exploit new knowledge. Nokia has been active in both upstream (Nokia) and downstream (people-service related factors) innovation.

NOKIA -- More Cameras than KODAK in the World...........2005-03-10

Read this book because Nokia is not just a cell phone producer but also a leader in R&D and interface design and yes, they now sell more cameras than Kodak in the world. I should know because I write about this field for imediaconnection.com and this is a book that is definitely on my shelf. Hard to understand how this company not only influenced a country --but also a generation and a world of new media and technology. TV2Go--, games, 3G and more -- it's all on the horizon-- the surf is about to roar in-- make sure you're prepared for the next generation of devices, handhelds and mobile. read this book.

Heavy book and heavy reading.......2005-01-14

The book is very well written and gives a nice detailed background of Nokia. The book is however very hard to read since you have to look acronyms up and all the time divert your attention from the text too look at the many graphs. It is not a smooth read but the content of the book is very good and well documented.

Cornelius SAMOHI

The revolution of Nokia's ideas.......2003-12-15

This is an inspiring story in an inspiring book. Steinbock told us how Nokia prepared their revolution, how Nokia finally dominates the world of cellular market. To some extend, Nokia was brought Finland into the world economic map. If you want to know the secret of Nokia success, maybe this book could be one of the great sources to do so.

a good lesson for businessmen.......2002-10-21

Nokia Revolution has such a detailed history of this famous cell phone company from its very beginning of a wood pulp factory to the leading mobile and internet company now, that it taught me a lot more about how a business really works than how a successful company looks. Nokia, according to my poor knowledge before, is merely a famous company whose cell phones are said to be the most durable product that won't be broken even if you drop it a thousand times to the ground. This book makes me think much deeper into the struggle the company went through to get this kind of fabulous quality and services to satisfy customers' needs.

Hollywood Be Thy Name: The Warner Brothers Story

Average customer rating:

A Most Interesting Read for Movie Lovers
More Than a "Rags to Riches" Story of Hollywood's Beginnings
More Than a "Rags to Riches" Story of Hollywood's Beginnings
Passion and Persistence: Ingredients for Success
Too many inaccuracies

Hollywood Be Thy Name: The Warner Brothers Story
Cass Warner Sperling , Cork Millner , and Jack Warner
Manufacturer: Prima Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1559583436

Book Description

The real story of the Warner brothers has all the drama of a big screen production—a rags-to-riches tale with tension and strife among four brothers, love and marriage, death and divorce, plotting and betrayal. Hollywood Be Thy Name transports readers into the lives of Hollywood's most enduring legends.

Customer Reviews:

A Most Interesting Read for Movie Lovers.......2006-11-02

This is a hard to put down book! I only learned about it because my husband and I just had a book published unknowingly with the same headline title. Having worked at Warner Bros mainly through the 60s, I found all this background on the brothers extremely interesting and very well written. In fact, I couldn't put it down! I do believe the title of another chapter in their book would have made a better title for their book though: BUILDING THE DREAM, because that is what it really is all about. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in movies since their inception. I have read many books on the subject, and besides our newly published book - which is quite different from this one - this is the most enjoyable and informative one of all. Shirley Lawrence

More Than a "Rags to Riches" Story of Hollywood's Beginnings.......2003-04-03

I read "Hollywood Be Thy Name" with great interest and curiosity. Author, Ms. Cass Warner Sperling has kept her unspoken "promise" made to Grandpa Harry (patriarch of the Warner brothers) at his deathbed when she was a ten year old girl, to convey to others his deep beliefs and ideals.

I rate it 5 stars because the story and writing style paints an incredible picture of not just another "rags to riches" story but one of tragedy and great sacrifice leading to an enduring legend of the motion picture industry directly because of the "can do and make it go right" attitudes of the Warners.

From the family gold watch (later to be hocked in order to secure payment for the brothers first projector) placed in 1883 into the secret pocket of Benjamin Warner for his immigration to America into New York and the arrival of wife Pearl and children less than a year later, to a realization of a movie empire that had as its motto "Educate, entertain, and enlighten" which is a Hollywood legacy.

A must read for movie buffs and those interested in the beginnings of Hollywood. This is a book that has "all the right stuff" for the making of a fascinating mini-series as told by granddaughter Cass and others.

Shelley Abate, movie buff and avid reader.

More Than a "Rags to Riches" Story of Hollywood's Beginnings.......2003-04-03

Shelley Abate, movie buff and avid reader.

Passion and Persistence: Ingredients for Success.......2003-03-19

Not simply a biography, Hollywood Be Thy Name is a moving and motivational series of lessons in persistence in the face of great challenges.

The reader is left with no doubt that while the Warner Brothers, Harry, Jack, Albert and Sam, made astute business decisions in building their company from its austere begginings in 1907, to the empire that became known as Warner Brothers Studios, the growth and succcess was fueled by an unmistakeable passion for moviemaking.

The book is well written by Cass Warner Sperling, grandaughter of Harry Warner and Cork Milner.

Hollywood by Thy Name also serves as a moving documentary-a history of early Hollywood. (Thirty two page photo insert).

Students of Hollywood history will find the book illuminating. Movie buffs will find it entertaining and those interested in the business side of this business we call "show business" will find it educational.

Interviews with Jack Warner Jr. and Ronald Reagan are highlighted but the real stars of "Hollywood Be Thy Name" are the brothers themselves, truly the earliest of the rags to riches stories and whose legend lives on through this book.

Too many inaccuracies.......2000-02-25

If the authors of this book spent so much time researching (11 years according to the Kirkus Review above) then one wonders why their historical contextualization is as sloppy and superficial as it is. Let me cite one egregious example. On page 274, the authors explain that Elia Kazan's naming names fed Joe McCarthy's ambition which resulted in the blacklisting of the Hollywood 10. In fact, McCarthy had absolutely nothing to do with the Hollywood 10 (who were blacklisted in 1947--McCarthy didn't rise to fame until 1950), and Elia Kazan wasn't brought before HUAC until years later. Any high school history textbook will be clear about this. Also, the melodramatic quality of this book, especially in its fictionalized dialogues, leads the reader to question whether the authors had any intention of writing a factual book, or whether they wanted to invent a history that was dramatic and would sell a lot of copies.

A Thread Across the Ocean: The Heroic Story of the Transatlantic Cable

Average customer rating:

A little niche of history that changed the world
Readable but Shallow History with a Bias
Breezing across the Atlantic...
Persistence of vision
Heroic Efforts In An Age Of Heros

A Thread Across the Ocean: The Heroic Story of the Transatlantic Cable
John Steele Gordon
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

19th Century | World | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0060524464
Release Date: 2003-07-01

Book Description

Today, in a world in which news flashes around the globe in an instant, time lags are inconceivable. In the mid-nineteenth century, communication between the United States and Europe -- the center of world affairs -- was only as quick as the fastest ship could cross the Atlantic, making the United States isolated and vulnerable.

But in 1866, the Old and New Worlds were united by the successful laying of a cable across the Atlantic. John Steele Gordon's book chronicles this extraordinary achievement -- the brainchild of American businessman Cyrus Field and one of the greatest engineering feats of the nineteenth century. An epic struggle, it required a decade of effort, numerous failed attempts, millions of dollars in capital, a near disaster at sea, the overcoming of seemingly insurmountable technological problems, and uncommon physical, financial, and intellectual courage. Bringing to life an overlooked story in the annals of technology, John Steele Gordon sheds fascinating new light on this American saga that literally changed the world.

Customer Reviews:

A little niche of history that changed the world.......2005-01-20

It's hard to imagine how different life was for people living in the 19th century after the successful laying of the first trans-Atlantic cable. This book tells the story of the laying of that cable and at the same time paints a portrait of Cyrus Field, the entreprenuer who laid the cable, and a period of time when so much about life was changing for inhabitants of the western world. Perhaps no other invention shrunk the world as quickly and as meaningfully as the trans-Atlantic cable.

John Steele Gordon always manages to imbue his writing of history with color and character that draws the reader into the story and keeps the pages turning quickly and easily; "Thread Across the Ocean" is no exception. This is a book for anyone who enjoys well-written history.

Readable but Shallow History with a Bias.......2005-01-08

I found _A Thread Across the Ocean_ to be a perfectly readable account of the travails behind the laying of the first workable translatlantic cable, a breezy read without a lot of depth. If that's what you're looking for, this will do just fine.

What I found lacking, however, in this account was much in the way of depth or even a modern re-interpretation of the enterprise. Mr. Gordon writes with the bias of an economic reporter who was looking for some parallels to the great telecommunications ventures of our time -- the internet and cellular phone networks -- and not with the attention or insights of an historian. All of the sources used for the book are secondary, and two books written by the sons of "CEO" of the cable venture, Cyrus Field, and its chief engineer, Charles Bright, are heavily quoted throughout. There is little to no indication that the author delved more deeply into any of the numerous fascinating aspects of this epic undertaking -- the complicated business arrangements, the engineering details, the inner lives of most of the principals, and so forth. That the focus of the book remains squarely on Field, and not on the group, demonstrates the author's take on the subject as the story of a Great Man -- surely not a modern understanding of the technological and corporate complexity that emerged in the 19th century. There's certainly a wealth of untapped information in these areas that a more scholarly effort might make something more of.

This lack of attention to details gets a bit annoying. The example of the first sentence of the book, an 18th century American who dedicates a pew in the reign of George II because the news of his death hasn't reached the colonies, seems isolated and is left hanging with no real apparent purpose. Field's own lack of technical understanding of the enterprise which he headed is glossed over, as is the similar history concerning SFB Morse's own perfection of the telegraph itself. With the profusion of other telegraphic cables around the world, one gets little sense as to whether Field, et alia, were racing competitively to be the first, to establish a monopoly, or were regarded as daydreaming fools. Similarly, the almost randomized selection of anecdotal footnotes are often indistinghuishable from non sequiters wthin the text itself. It reads at times like Grandpa Simpson digressing around a story.

The overall effect is that one is reading an extended article in a business journal or an airline magazine, not a popular history.

The story is inherently fascinating, enough so that the faults of the book did not prevent me from reading voraciously throught to the end, but I was left wit the feeling that a better book on the subject is out there unwritten as yet. As it is, there's a decent retelling of parts of the story in the Kenneth Silverman book on Morse, _Lightning Man._

Breezing across the Atlantic..........2004-09-01

It's not often that you'll read historical non-fiction that grabs you and pulls you along, but this is one of those rare such books that would make great beach reading. There were a few times when I actually wished for a bit more technical detail, but Gordon does a wonderful job of telling his story without resorting to hyperbole.

Persistence of vision.......2004-01-24

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.

Heroic Efforts In An Age Of Heros.......2004-01-14

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.

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Warner Bros Story
Clive Hirschorn
Manufacturer: Random House Value Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0517538342
Release Date: 1987-01-10

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United Artists Story
Ronald Bergen
Manufacturer: Random House Value Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 051756100X
Release Date: 1988-05-10

The Universal Story - The Complete HIstory of the Studio and its 2,641 Films

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The Universal Story - The Complete HIstory of the Studio and its 2,641 Films
Clive Hirschhorn
Manufacturer: Crown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0517550016
Release Date: 1987-11-22

Book Description

They sent chills down your spine with Dracula; made you laugh with Abbot & Costello and cry with ET; and nearly scared you to death with The Birds, Jaws, and Jurassic Park. Universal Studios' phenomenal success didn't come easily, and theirs is a tale worthy of a movie itself. Founded in 1912 by the legendary Carl Laemmle, Universal struggled hard in the early days to compete with its rivals, finally succeeded in the 1920s, and then began a roller coaster of ups and downs that climaxed in the new millennium with its status as a true industry leader. The major players included directors Hitchcock, Ford, Scorsese, Stone, and Lee and actors De Niro, Pacino, Streep, and Sarandon. Through an analysis of each movie, from the golden silents to Schindler's List, the exciting history of one of the world's greatest studios comes alive.

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