A thread across the ocean
Subtitle: the heroic story of the transatlantic cable
By: John Steele Gordon.
Publisher: Walker & Co.
Published: 2002
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 240
Subjects: Cables, Submarine -- Atlantic Ocean -- History; Telegraph -- United States -- History; Telegraph -- Great Britain -- History
Description: "Today, in a world in which news flashes around the globe in an instant, time lags are inconceivable. In the mid-nineteenth century, however, they were a fact of life. The United States was remote from Europe, the center of world affairs, and communication was only as quick as the fastest ship could cross the Atlantic. Instant contact seemed as unlikely then as walking on the moon did in the 1950s.".

"The Civil War had barely ended, however, when the Old and New Worlds had been united by the successful laying of a telegraph cable that spanned the Atlantic in 1866. A Thread Across the Ocean chronicles this extraordinary achievement, one of the greatest engineering feats of that century - and perhaps of all time."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [225]-227) and index.
Table of contents: title: An; title: enterprise worthy of this day of great things --; title: Cyrus Field --; title: Newfoundland --; title: "How many months? : let's say how many years" --; title: Raising more capital -- -- The; title: first cable --; title: "And lay the Atlantic cable in a heap" --; title: Lightning through deep waters --; title: "Here's the ship to lay your cable, Mr. Field" -- -- A; title: new cable, a new attempt -- -- "The; title: great Eastern looms all glorious in the morning sky".