The Telephone

The Telephone is at once a history of an invention and much more than that. It’s a book about innovators and monopolists, tinkerers and geniuses, and, ultimately, the remaking – and re-remaking – of America. Science and technology never seem more exciting than when James Gleick is writing about them – Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
That little device in your pocket has transformed so much – Long-distance! Operators! The Yellow Pages! – into history. Who better to chronicle it all than the masterful James Gleick? From Bell and Watson to Steve Jobs, from patent wars to the evolving nature of conversation, Gleick charts our distance-compressing, time-shifting telephonic adventure with exceptional brio and subtlety – Stacy Schiff, author of The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams
Forces you to see the world with new eyes. Blending expertise with a thrilling narrative … I loved it! – Alice Loxton, author of Eighteen and Eleanor
What’s so impressive and enjoyable about Gleick’s writing is that he takes a subject I thought I knew something about and finds fresh stories and new insights. A terrific book – David Bodanis, author of E=MC2
A ringing history of one of technology’s most ubiquitous objects … Gleick compresses a wealth of information into an impressively fluent narrative * Kirkus *

James Gleick was born in New York City in 1954 and graduated from Harvard in 1976. He worked for ten years as an editor and reporter for The New York Times. His first book, Chaos, was a National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize finalist. His other books include the bestselling biographies Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman and Isaac Newton. He continues to contribute to The New York Review. The Telephone is his eighth book.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.