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Reluctant Genius
Impeccably researched, and written with Charlotte Gray’s unerring eye for personal and historical detail, Reluctant Genius tells the story of a man very different from his public image. Most of us think of Alexander Graham Bell as a white-bearded sage, but the young A lec Bell was a passionate and wild-eyed genius, a man given to fits of brilliance and melancholy. His technologies for photophones, tetrahedrals, flying machines and hydrodomes laid the groundwork for future achievement. And he adored his wife, Mabel, a beautiful, deaf young woman from a blueblood Boston family. Gray goes where no other writer has gone, delving deeply into Bell’s personality and into his intense relationship with Mabel, whose background and temperament were a startling contrast to his own. Reluctant Genius takes us on an intimate journey into the golden age of invention and the vibrant life of a man whose work shaped our world.
480 pages, Paperback
First published August 16, 2006
277 people are currently reading
1309 people want to read
About the author
Charlotte Gray
73 books147 followersCharlotte Gray is one of Canada’s best-known writers, and author of eight acclaimed books of literary non-fiction. Born in Sheffield, England, and educated at Oxford University and the London School of Economics, she began her writing career in England as a magazine editor and newspaper columnist. After coming to Canada in 1979, she worked as a political commentator, book reviewer and magazine columnist before she turned to biography and popular history.
Charlotte's most recent book is Gold Diggers, Striking It Rich in the Klondike. In 2008, Charlotte published Nellie McClung, a short biography of Canada’s leading women’s rights activist in the Penguin Series, Extraordinary Canadians. Her 2006 bestseller, Reluctant Genius: The Passionate Life and Inventive Mind of Alexander Graham Bell, won the Donald Creighton Award for Ontario History and the City of Ottawa Book Award. It was also nominated for the Nereus Writers’ Trust Non-Fiction Prize, the National Business Book Award and the Trillium Award. Her previous five books, which include Sisters in the Wilderness, The Lives of Susanna Moodie and Catharine Parr Traill, Flint & Feather, The Life and Times of E. Pauline Johnson and A Museum Called Canada, were all award-winning bestsellers.
Charlotte appears regularly on radio and television as a political and cultural commentator. In 2004 she was the advocate for Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister, for the CBC series: The Greatest Canadian. She has been a judge for several of Canada’s most prestigious literary prizes, including the Giller Prize for Fiction, the Charles Taylor Prize for Non-fiction and the Shaunessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing.
Charlotte has been awarded five honorary doctorates, from Mount St. Vincent University, Nova Scotia, the University of Ottawa, Queen’s University, York University and Carleton University.
An Adjunct Research Professor in the Department of History at Carleton University, Charlotte is the 2003 Recipient of the Pierre Berton Award for distinguished achievement in popularizing Canadian history. She is former chair of the board of Canada’s National History Society, which publishes the magazine Canada’s History (formerly The Beaver.) She sits on the boards of the Ottawa International Authors Festival, the Art Canada Institute/Institut de l’Art Canadien, and the Sir Winston Churchill Society of Ottawa. Charlotte is a member of the Order of Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
Charlotte lives in Ottawa with her husband George Anderson, and has three sons.
Charlotte's most recent book is Gold Diggers, Striking It Rich in the Klondike. In 2008, Charlotte published Nellie McClung, a short biography of Canada’s leading women’s rights activist in the Penguin Series, Extraordinary Canadians. Her 2006 bestseller, Reluctant Genius: The Passionate Life and Inventive Mind of Alexander Graham Bell, won the Donald Creighton Award for Ontario History and the City of Ottawa Book Award. It was also nominated for the Nereus Writers’ Trust Non-Fiction Prize, the National Business Book Award and the Trillium Award. Her previous five books, which include Sisters in the Wilderness, The Lives of Susanna Moodie and Catharine Parr Traill, Flint & Feather, The Life and Times of E. Pauline Johnson and A Museum Called Canada, were all award-winning bestsellers.
Charlotte appears regularly on radio and television as a political and cultural commentator. In 2004 she was the advocate for Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister, for the CBC series: The Greatest Canadian. She has been a judge for several of Canada’s most prestigious literary prizes, including the Giller Prize for Fiction, the Charles Taylor Prize for Non-fiction and the Shaunessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing.
Charlotte has been awarded five honorary doctorates, from Mount St. Vincent University, Nova Scotia, the University of Ottawa, Queen’s University, York University and Carleton University.
An Adjunct Research Professor in the Department of History at Carleton University, Charlotte is the 2003 Recipient of the Pierre Berton Award for distinguished achievement in popularizing Canadian history. She is former chair of the board of Canada’s National History Society, which publishes the magazine Canada’s History (formerly The Beaver.) She sits on the boards of the Ottawa International Authors Festival, the Art Canada Institute/Institut de l’Art Canadien, and the Sir Winston Churchill Society of Ottawa. Charlotte is a member of the Order of Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
Charlotte lives in Ottawa with her husband George Anderson, and has three sons.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 109 reviews
December 3, 2021
I knew very little about Alexander Graham Bell before reading this book, so I was intrigued by the title of this biography to find out what kind of a genius was Alexander Graham Bell. I was disappointed to find out that the title was misleading and that this book is more of a story of a marriage between Bell and his wife who was hearing impaired.
The beginning of the biography was interesting as we read about the early life of Bell in Scotland, his family's move to Canada and then his courtship with his pupil and future wife. However after the invention of the telephone which came early in Bell's life and his father in law protected his patent which made Bell a wealthy man the book doesn't have much to say.
Because of Bell's lack of scientific and mathematical knowledge he was unable to exploit any of his ideas that came to him. He certainly had a passion for invention as the subtitle states, but not the know how. His major research projects seemed to be mostly still born as he moved to rural Canada to continue his life's work without the collaboration necessary to be successful.
The beginning of the biography was interesting as we read about the early life of Bell in Scotland, his family's move to Canada and then his courtship with his pupil and future wife. However after the invention of the telephone which came early in Bell's life and his father in law protected his patent which made Bell a wealthy man the book doesn't have much to say.
Because of Bell's lack of scientific and mathematical knowledge he was unable to exploit any of his ideas that came to him. He certainly had a passion for invention as the subtitle states, but not the know how. His major research projects seemed to be mostly still born as he moved to rural Canada to continue his life's work without the collaboration necessary to be successful.
May 29, 2011
An excellent biography that gave great insight into the life and mind of this famous inventor. Though I had read another biography in the past this one focused on Bell's family and relationships in a way unusual for a biography of a famous man and quite rewarding for anyone who wants to understand the full personality of those she reads about. I'd always heard that his wife was deaf, but most books give the impression that Bell was somehow noble to marry someone with such a disability. This biography illuminates what a brilliant woman his wife was and the major role she played in the life of a man who left to his own devices might have just turned into a lonely crank.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
May 5, 2020
It is truly sustaining and refreshing to read of humans like Alexander Graham Bell -- the kind of person who buys the Encyclopedia Britannica as soon as it appears, and reads it cover to cover. A gifted teacher, he knew to be funny, treating young deaf students with respect and humaneness when few others did. A true genius, who beat professional engineers and inventors -- including Thomas Edison -- to technologies that they were all racing for in those days.
A surprising and deeply touching feature of the story is the romance between Bell and Mabel Gardiner Hubbard. He was a scruffy 27-year-old, hired to teach her. She was a beautiful 17-year-old, but deaf after a childhood bout with scarlet fever, unlikely to make a good marriage despite her Boston Brahmin background. The interest and need arose from the first, as he taught her a private language they could use by holding hands and vibrating their fingers. How freaking romantic is that! Her parents didn't at first approve, but one night over dinner, her father discovered that Bell could develop the technology he had envisioned to make money in the telegraph business. If he worked and focused instead of wandering from subject to subject like an intellectual butterfly, he could win the young woman he loved. And that's how he built the telephone! Unbelievable. It's like, was this written by some steampunky version of Nora Ephron? I would rather have watched Meg Ryan as Mabel and Tom Hanks as Bell, in 1998, than You've Got Mail. As it is, this one awaits another sharp romantic mind.
This was another book read for a curriculum and instruction project I'm doing, part of a series I or someone might teach to young people working on innovation and invention. While it is overly long and requires certain cuts to focus on the early narrative I describe above, I think maybe the second half of Bell's life, in which he garners few additional patents, but builds an idyllic home and laboratory environment in Canada, and satisfies his intellectual curiosity to the fullest, is one of the most profound innovation stories we could supply the kids. There's just so much here. Kudos to Ms. Gray for handling it all with astounding dexterity.
A surprising and deeply touching feature of the story is the romance between Bell and Mabel Gardiner Hubbard. He was a scruffy 27-year-old, hired to teach her. She was a beautiful 17-year-old, but deaf after a childhood bout with scarlet fever, unlikely to make a good marriage despite her Boston Brahmin background. The interest and need arose from the first, as he taught her a private language they could use by holding hands and vibrating their fingers. How freaking romantic is that! Her parents didn't at first approve, but one night over dinner, her father discovered that Bell could develop the technology he had envisioned to make money in the telegraph business. If he worked and focused instead of wandering from subject to subject like an intellectual butterfly, he could win the young woman he loved. And that's how he built the telephone! Unbelievable. It's like, was this written by some steampunky version of Nora Ephron? I would rather have watched Meg Ryan as Mabel and Tom Hanks as Bell, in 1998, than You've Got Mail. As it is, this one awaits another sharp romantic mind.
This was another book read for a curriculum and instruction project I'm doing, part of a series I or someone might teach to young people working on innovation and invention. While it is overly long and requires certain cuts to focus on the early narrative I describe above, I think maybe the second half of Bell's life, in which he garners few additional patents, but builds an idyllic home and laboratory environment in Canada, and satisfies his intellectual curiosity to the fullest, is one of the most profound innovation stories we could supply the kids. There's just so much here. Kudos to Ms. Gray for handling it all with astounding dexterity.
January 16, 2025
There are a number of moments where minutiae and too-much-information overcome the author...but the overall product is about as exhaustive a biography of the inventor of the telephone as you are ever likely to read. I appreciated all the revelations about his long-time links to the deaf community and his interesting relationship with Helen Keller, which I was unaware of until reading this biography. Informative and (most of the time) a very easy read.
August 17, 2016
Alexander Graham Bell and Mabel Hubbard were the kind of couple for whom the saying, "Behind every great man stands a good woman," was invented.
Everyone is familiar with the name of the man that developed the telephone, but few, me included, could say what happened after that in the life of the Bell family.
Ms. Gray sets out to tell us exactly that. Although the now humble telephone made the young couple very rich, they certainly didn't stop there. Alec continued to invent, developed an interest in aviation and became one of the first men to develop a viable "flying machine". His temperament so suitable to inventing, along with what now would most likely be diagnosed as bipolar disorder, made social interactions very difficult for him throughout his life. It is extremely doubtful that without Mabel, herself the very centre of equanimity, he would have been able to live his life the way he wanted, or to accomplish all that he did. Mabel made it possible for him to function in society, the way he made it possible for her to live in the hearing world. Some would call their relationship co-dependent, and Mabel's death shortly after Alec died, would point to that, but perhaps it was one of symbiosis. The one thing Gray didn't give me enough of, is Mabel's inner life. There are allusions to Mabel feeling neglected and at times abandoned by Alec, but there really isn't enough to see her come alive as a full fledged human with a variety of emotions. Mabel is depicted mostly as a saint, which to put up with Alec's eccentricities she doubtlessly was. I just think there had to have been more than that. Very interesting book. I learned a lot, but still felt I wanted to know more.
Everyone is familiar with the name of the man that developed the telephone, but few, me included, could say what happened after that in the life of the Bell family.
Ms. Gray sets out to tell us exactly that. Although the now humble telephone made the young couple very rich, they certainly didn't stop there. Alec continued to invent, developed an interest in aviation and became one of the first men to develop a viable "flying machine". His temperament so suitable to inventing, along with what now would most likely be diagnosed as bipolar disorder, made social interactions very difficult for him throughout his life. It is extremely doubtful that without Mabel, herself the very centre of equanimity, he would have been able to live his life the way he wanted, or to accomplish all that he did. Mabel made it possible for him to function in society, the way he made it possible for her to live in the hearing world. Some would call their relationship co-dependent, and Mabel's death shortly after Alec died, would point to that, but perhaps it was one of symbiosis. The one thing Gray didn't give me enough of, is Mabel's inner life. There are allusions to Mabel feeling neglected and at times abandoned by Alec, but there really isn't enough to see her come alive as a full fledged human with a variety of emotions. Mabel is depicted mostly as a saint, which to put up with Alec's eccentricities she doubtlessly was. I just think there had to have been more than that. Very interesting book. I learned a lot, but still felt I wanted to know more.
December 24, 2014
Being from Nova Scotia and having an aunt who lives in Baddeck, I have been there a number of times and visited the Alexander Graham Bell museum. I though I knew most of what there was to know about Alec, but I was wrong. While a great museum, it seems to gloss over his life in Scotland and the United States, and focuses more on his later life. It does not show the struggles of Alec labouring over the telephone, and the patent battles that this book does.
Many of the unknown, but fundamentally important events in Alec's life are covered here, from his early life in Scotland, and how his father was an elocutionist, to reluctance to gain profit from his inventions. His fathers occupation is one of the most important aspects that is not covered at the museum, for if his father did not teach Alec the way speech is formed, and how hearing worked, then Alec most likely would not have invented the telephone.
This book is well worth the read if you enjoy history, like to talk on the telephone, or just want a good book.
Many of the unknown, but fundamentally important events in Alec's life are covered here, from his early life in Scotland, and how his father was an elocutionist, to reluctance to gain profit from his inventions. His fathers occupation is one of the most important aspects that is not covered at the museum, for if his father did not teach Alec the way speech is formed, and how hearing worked, then Alec most likely would not have invented the telephone.
This book is well worth the read if you enjoy history, like to talk on the telephone, or just want a good book.
September 18, 2010
I really liked this book! It was a slow read, but very satisfying. A lot of the focus was on his wife and her influence on him. They wrote a lot of letters in those days so you can get a pretty accurate picture of what they were like. My impression was that their aim was to be a person of character. That was really valued, so even when life dissapointed, or was hard, they rose to the occasion with integrity. It made me wish for the olden days and also want to do my best in life and relationships.
September 15, 2019
*Chaotic Genius
(Re-reading after doing a book report for this bio back in Grade 5!)
Many innovators and intellectuals come to mind when thinking about the swift progress that science made starting in the 19th century. Edison stamped his name on all things electricity while Tesla was the madman who pioneered how to make it work. Darwin put together a cohesive explanation for life on earth while Einstein reinvented how we define space and time.
Somewhere in this collection of great thinkers is Alexander Graham Bell - the emphasis is on thinker, as it was only in his lean and hungry years that he had the motive to work on the telephone day and night until a commercially viable product was complete. With a guaranteed future with nearly unlimited time and resources, and with limited interference from his endlessly doting wife Mabel (this biography is worth reading for the love story alone), he spends the next half century like a child toying in nature's sandbox, playing with sunlight and brain waves and flying machines and sheep breeding, always shrugging off the possibility of a commercial application that would drag him into patent courts and legal disputes and away from his beloved outdoor laboratory. Whether it's due to his peculiar circumstances or what, Bell manages to live the life of the true inventor, unbeholden to shareholders or deadlines, and I would be hard-pressed to find another researcher in his time period up to the present day that lived this life to a T.
I bring this all up because it's what interests me most about this great man. As with all biographies, we are made well aware that (despite their best efforts) no man is an island, and we're brought along through the lives of the Bell social circle and deep into his touchingly gooey lifelong romance with his wife Mabel, but there is an underlying vein coursing through the book, that A.G. Bell lived to be remembered as a great scientist, perhaps to the detriment of his family life. Overall, Reluctant Genius presents this great and imposing figure in an interesting and well-researched way well deserving given his placement in the scientific pantheon.
(Re-reading after doing a book report for this bio back in Grade 5!)
Many innovators and intellectuals come to mind when thinking about the swift progress that science made starting in the 19th century. Edison stamped his name on all things electricity while Tesla was the madman who pioneered how to make it work. Darwin put together a cohesive explanation for life on earth while Einstein reinvented how we define space and time.
Somewhere in this collection of great thinkers is Alexander Graham Bell - the emphasis is on thinker, as it was only in his lean and hungry years that he had the motive to work on the telephone day and night until a commercially viable product was complete. With a guaranteed future with nearly unlimited time and resources, and with limited interference from his endlessly doting wife Mabel (this biography is worth reading for the love story alone), he spends the next half century like a child toying in nature's sandbox, playing with sunlight and brain waves and flying machines and sheep breeding, always shrugging off the possibility of a commercial application that would drag him into patent courts and legal disputes and away from his beloved outdoor laboratory. Whether it's due to his peculiar circumstances or what, Bell manages to live the life of the true inventor, unbeholden to shareholders or deadlines, and I would be hard-pressed to find another researcher in his time period up to the present day that lived this life to a T.
I bring this all up because it's what interests me most about this great man. As with all biographies, we are made well aware that (despite their best efforts) no man is an island, and we're brought along through the lives of the Bell social circle and deep into his touchingly gooey lifelong romance with his wife Mabel, but there is an underlying vein coursing through the book, that A.G. Bell lived to be remembered as a great scientist, perhaps to the detriment of his family life. Overall, Reluctant Genius presents this great and imposing figure in an interesting and well-researched way well deserving given his placement in the scientific pantheon.
August 11, 2018
Gray knows what she's doing. She weaves an engaging story about Alexander Graham Bell, a fascinating and emotionally volatile man who just happened to change the world with his telephone (and interactions with Helen Keller). You get such an unerring potrait of the man (and his equally impressive wife, Mabel Hubbard Bell) that you feel like you know him.
I did find this book a bit wanting, however. Gray focuses so much on the man himself (and the people around him) that some of the historical context is lost. There's surprisingly little description of the heady times of the late 1800 industrialization. Not just that, but Gray never quite explains why Alexander Graham Bell grew increasingly dogmatic with his oral approach for the Deaf. After all, the man was fairly flexible on the use of sign language earlier in his career as a teacher of the Deaf, but ended up one of the most ardent advocates for speech. How did that happen/ We never find out, which is a shame since that's one of his lasting legacies in the Deaf community.
I did find this book a bit wanting, however. Gray focuses so much on the man himself (and the people around him) that some of the historical context is lost. There's surprisingly little description of the heady times of the late 1800 industrialization. Not just that, but Gray never quite explains why Alexander Graham Bell grew increasingly dogmatic with his oral approach for the Deaf. After all, the man was fairly flexible on the use of sign language earlier in his career as a teacher of the Deaf, but ended up one of the most ardent advocates for speech. How did that happen/ We never find out, which is a shame since that's one of his lasting legacies in the Deaf community.
March 19, 2024
Awesome nonfiction. Changes the perception of Bell an inventor to a professor and partly promoter for visible speech system to help hearing/speaking challenged kids. Scottish family migrated to Canada for better life and tried promoting the visible speech system. Bell gets an opportunity to teach at Boston’s mute school.
Along comes Hubbard family and the patent lawyer trying to make money in a telegraph market monopolized by western union. Bell offered to find a solution for transmitting multiple messages along same line. Having the knowledge of sound(tuning fork experiment and German science) , he combines it with creating dulant current and aces the patent.
Mabel’s love, tweaking the instrument with Watson, impressive piano player, hearing the voice first time on the speaker on and on. Lots of these will keep u glued to the book. Only con is bit of drag with Boston family life.
Celebrating the victory with Mohawk war dance.🫡
Along comes Hubbard family and the patent lawyer trying to make money in a telegraph market monopolized by western union. Bell offered to find a solution for transmitting multiple messages along same line. Having the knowledge of sound(tuning fork experiment and German science) , he combines it with creating dulant current and aces the patent.
Mabel’s love, tweaking the instrument with Watson, impressive piano player, hearing the voice first time on the speaker on and on. Lots of these will keep u glued to the book. Only con is bit of drag with Boston family life.
Celebrating the victory with Mohawk war dance.🫡
February 5, 2020
I find the title to be slightly misleading. He wasn't reluctant to be a genius. He was more interested in the next invention rather than completing the details of the last one. He was reluctant to do the work of completing patent filings. Good, interesting read. Felt it jumped forward and back in timeline a bit too much for my taste though.
October 2, 2020
A great read.
Very interesting and well written biography. The personal letters between Alex and Mabel made me feel as though I really got to know them. It was chronologically well done making for smooth reading and easy to keep track of all that was going on. I definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys biographies.
Very interesting and well written biography. The personal letters between Alex and Mabel made me feel as though I really got to know them. It was chronologically well done making for smooth reading and easy to keep track of all that was going on. I definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys biographies.
September 22, 2020
Excellent biography. An absorbing, all encompassing look at the life and times of a genius and his family, his colleagues, his competition, and his very significant contribution to the whole world.
July 25, 2025
such an elaborated and detailed work on this amazing man to the point of too much detail at times but enjoyed it and learn so much about th elife of this genius!
October 16, 2020
A few years ago, we visited Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, and spent two nights in Baddeck. While there, we went to the Alexander Graham Bell Museum and learned that there was much more to the man than the telephone. Bell spent portions on many years at his refuge on Bras d'Or Lake near Baddeck and worked on new inventions. I have always been interested in him, as I share his Scotch, Canadian, American heritage. This book offers marvelous insights into the nature of the man and his remarkable wife, Mabel. I came to appreciate him even more for his kindness and lack of concern about making money. If fact, I doubt that he would have been able to see the telephone through to success were it not for the fact that his future father-in-law refused to give away his daughter until Alexander demonstrated that he could support her. Mabel's father was a major investor in Bell's activities directed towards the telephone, and drove the commercial success. The patent fight over the telephone occupied Alexander for many years and extinguished any desire to be involved in future patent cases.
Alexander and his father were primarily interested in the human voice. Both Bell's mother and his wife were deaf, and he spent much of his early years teaching the deaf. Throughout his life, this remained a key part of his life. He had a strong influence on Helen Keller, for instance. As for inventions, Bell was involved in many different things, but few ended up benefitting him financially. Like Thomas Edison, he had a thousand ideas at any time. But Edison was driven by commercial success while Bell was happy exploring science and inventions for their own sake. Another facet of the book that I liked was the love story between Bell and Mabel. They each made the other much better, and they allowed each other the freedom to pursue those things that interested them. Bell had many inventions that were not patented, but he also formed a small company with three other men to explore manned flight that led to several key patents that the US eventually licensed. However, once again, Glen Curtiss was the one who benefitted financially, rather than Bell. There are so many other sides to Bell that I should not recount here; I urge you to read the book. He was a great man who should be honored even more than he is today. He was far more than just the father of the telephone.
Alexander and his father were primarily interested in the human voice. Both Bell's mother and his wife were deaf, and he spent much of his early years teaching the deaf. Throughout his life, this remained a key part of his life. He had a strong influence on Helen Keller, for instance. As for inventions, Bell was involved in many different things, but few ended up benefitting him financially. Like Thomas Edison, he had a thousand ideas at any time. But Edison was driven by commercial success while Bell was happy exploring science and inventions for their own sake. Another facet of the book that I liked was the love story between Bell and Mabel. They each made the other much better, and they allowed each other the freedom to pursue those things that interested them. Bell had many inventions that were not patented, but he also formed a small company with three other men to explore manned flight that led to several key patents that the US eventually licensed. However, once again, Glen Curtiss was the one who benefitted financially, rather than Bell. There are so many other sides to Bell that I should not recount here; I urge you to read the book. He was a great man who should be honored even more than he is today. He was far more than just the father of the telephone.
September 9, 2017
Fascinating! Charlotte Gray was a discovery for me
April 19, 2010
Terrific insight into Bell's life, the race for the telecommunication advantage by competing companies in the US and Europe, and the fascinating story of how inventions spring from the mind of oddball, slightly mad individuals. Not a book I would have picked, but one I really enjoyed reading. Author did tons of research, and used original letters as primary sources, from which she uses quotes and paraphrases to create a narrative style that makes the biography read like a novel. The other thing that caught me about this book is the parallel to our current day, regarding, i.e. iPhone vs Android phone, the competition for the edge in mobile and communication technology and its hardware (and software).
October 11, 2012
I don't suppose that I would ever have known about Alexander Graham Bell if we hadn't visited Baddeck, in Nova Scotia, and the museum there, based on the place where the Bell family lived for many years. I loved the museum and bought the book which tells a great story of this very unusual man and his his wife. I enjoyed the parts about their relationship and life more than some of the technical details about the inventions. It was a fascinating insight into a time of great change and discovery.
August 16, 2014
Well-written account of Bell's life. He was a complicated character who dabbled in many different areas. Most important of all was the stabilizing influence of his hearing-impaired wife Mabel. His knowledge of education for the deaf (one of his few abiding interests) was key to his invention of the telephone. Gray does a good job of revealing the key role Mabel played in his later successes too: airplanes for example. Contemporary history is well incorporated into the story too.
August 22, 2015
This is a good biography on a great man. It isn't a fluff piece as it characterizes who Dr. Bell was which was Sometimes too focussed and inattentive, somewhat selfish and egotistical. Alec's wife Mabel is the backbone, the thread that kept Dr. Bell whole and the Bell family cohesive. She sounded like an amazing woman.
A good book to gain some insight in the life of a tireless inventor and his supportive and brilliant wife. A recommended read.
A good book to gain some insight in the life of a tireless inventor and his supportive and brilliant wife. A recommended read.
October 5, 2016
I don't want to give this book a bad rating because it seems well researched and written. However, I did not like it because I expected a different book. If you think a book about Bell is going to be scientific or full of technical details, then you will be disappointed. This is a story of Bell as a man, father and husband in the period of the late 19th early 20th century. You'll have to interested in his family, his work with the deaf and other details to really enjoy this book.
January 10, 2015
I learned so much about this amazing man. His work with the blind and Helen Keller, his inventions and curiousity
August 3, 2022
This biography of Alexander Graham Bell is well written. It outlines Bell’s life from his childhood in Edinburgh, Scotland through his death. His father and grandfather were “elocutionists” and Bell was always fascinated with sound. Bell's mother was deaf which spurred his obsession with helping deaf people. Bell was also an avid inventor. He was always interested in science and inventing but not so much in business. He taught deaf students and went on to marry one of them. Mabel came from a rich family and was a more practical person and pushed Bell to make sure he patented his ideas, which saved him from the poor house and probably saved their marriage as well. Because Mabel and her rich father were perseverant in ensuring Bell got credit for the telephone, the Bells became very rich. Still Alexander was more interested in inventing things than marketing his inventions, and he was passionate about helping the deaf population.
I enjoyed this book but it was a bit annoying in that it focused mainly on Bell's domestic life. There were small sections that described the world of the late 1800s but always the focus was on family life. These portions of the book are extensive with a lot of redundant detail. The book could use some serious editing! My other complaint is that the book has no bibliography and only very general notes. I originally wanted to find out more about Bell from reading about him in Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard, and his attempt to save the life of president James Garfield. That incident is briefly told in this book as well. One can dig for the sources of references in this book using the notes and also the index but it is a tedious task.
Bell was a determined inventor and had lots of ideas. When he was concentrating on his work he neglected his family but his wife, Mabel, kept him on track. I learned a lot about Bell but was somewhat disappointed in the focus of this book. I think the other major Bell biography, Bell: Alexander Graham Bell and the Conquest of Solitude by Robert V. Bruce which was mentioned in the notes and also in “Destiny of the Republic” might be a more interesting book for me.
I enjoyed this book but it was a bit annoying in that it focused mainly on Bell's domestic life. There were small sections that described the world of the late 1800s but always the focus was on family life. These portions of the book are extensive with a lot of redundant detail. The book could use some serious editing! My other complaint is that the book has no bibliography and only very general notes. I originally wanted to find out more about Bell from reading about him in Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard, and his attempt to save the life of president James Garfield. That incident is briefly told in this book as well. One can dig for the sources of references in this book using the notes and also the index but it is a tedious task.
Bell was a determined inventor and had lots of ideas. When he was concentrating on his work he neglected his family but his wife, Mabel, kept him on track. I learned a lot about Bell but was somewhat disappointed in the focus of this book. I think the other major Bell biography, Bell: Alexander Graham Bell and the Conquest of Solitude by Robert V. Bruce which was mentioned in the notes and also in “Destiny of the Republic” might be a more interesting book for me.
August 4, 2020
I read this book for two reasons: an interest in the early history of telecommunications, and a previous visit to the excellent Bell national historic site in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, which displays and showcases artifacts from throughout Bell’s life, including the fascinating early aircraft and watercraft that Bell worked on in his later years in Cape Breton.
The book turned out to be much better in regards to the latter than the former – there are a few good chapters on Bell’s invention of the telephone, made possible by his family’s background in acoustics, elocution, and how the mouth produces sounds. But the book has almost nothing of the subsequent spread of telephony, and the growth of the Bell company (in which it seems Bell played an almost negligible role). Gray references an older biography by Robert Bruce (“Alexander Graham Bell and the Conquest of Solitude”) as the best source for readers looking to learn more about the invention of the telephone. The still-active controversy of whether Bell stole some of his ideas from competitor Elisha Gray is also not really addressed to any depth in this book.
After his early success, Bell led a most interesting but scattered life, increasingly focused around his Cape Breton estate, and never duplicated his breakthrough with the phone. His financial support was critical to incubating both National Geographic (as NGS president, he hired the first employee and long-time editor Gilbert Grosvenor, whom his daughter later married) and Science magazine. His advice (based on his long experience in education for the deaf) was critical in helping Helen Keller develop her ability to communicate. Working with younger companions, he made important contributions in the early days of aviation, and also worked on hydrofoils. Gray tells these aspects of Bell’s life story very well.
In summary, recommended, but look elsewhere for a history of the telephone.
The book turned out to be much better in regards to the latter than the former – there are a few good chapters on Bell’s invention of the telephone, made possible by his family’s background in acoustics, elocution, and how the mouth produces sounds. But the book has almost nothing of the subsequent spread of telephony, and the growth of the Bell company (in which it seems Bell played an almost negligible role). Gray references an older biography by Robert Bruce (“Alexander Graham Bell and the Conquest of Solitude”) as the best source for readers looking to learn more about the invention of the telephone. The still-active controversy of whether Bell stole some of his ideas from competitor Elisha Gray is also not really addressed to any depth in this book.
After his early success, Bell led a most interesting but scattered life, increasingly focused around his Cape Breton estate, and never duplicated his breakthrough with the phone. His financial support was critical to incubating both National Geographic (as NGS president, he hired the first employee and long-time editor Gilbert Grosvenor, whom his daughter later married) and Science magazine. His advice (based on his long experience in education for the deaf) was critical in helping Helen Keller develop her ability to communicate. Working with younger companions, he made important contributions in the early days of aviation, and also worked on hydrofoils. Gray tells these aspects of Bell’s life story very well.
In summary, recommended, but look elsewhere for a history of the telephone.
April 6, 2021
As biographies go, this is a decent book – informative, fluid. Yet somehow something seems missing to me. It’s actually a dual biography of both Alexander Graham Bell and his lifelong wife, Mabel Hubbard. And maybe that’s the trouble, we learn a lot about their relationship but maybe not enough of either of them as individuals. And maybe that was just me. I wanted to now more about AGB’s business history, though maybe the Reluctant Genius was just not that instrumental to the amazing corporate empire Bell telephone companies became. Gray brings out his eccentric quirks but I would like to have read more about his psychological makeup. In modern lingo, was Bell somewhere on the autism spectrum?
Nevertheless one learns a lot about this genius inventor’s accomplishments beyond his invention of the telephone, and maybe the Silver Dart. I did not know about his strong connection with Helen Keller, nor The National Geographic Society and Magazine. Truly remarkable. And maybe Charlotte Gray is right to give almost equal voice to Mabel, without whom, and her father, Alex might have amounted to almost nothing noteworthy.
Nevertheless one learns a lot about this genius inventor’s accomplishments beyond his invention of the telephone, and maybe the Silver Dart. I did not know about his strong connection with Helen Keller, nor The National Geographic Society and Magazine. Truly remarkable. And maybe Charlotte Gray is right to give almost equal voice to Mabel, without whom, and her father, Alex might have amounted to almost nothing noteworthy.
May 6, 2025
This biography is well-written, interesting, and packed with information - some of it surprising. The characters of both Mr. and Mrs. Bell become clearer and clearer as the work unfolds: the wife, in particular, emerges as an intelligent, articulate, and occasionally humorous grounding agent for her mercurial husband.
There are grainy black and white photos included, one or two in each chapter.
It turns out there is much much more to the Bell story than 'he invented the telephone" and "Mr. Watson, come here, I want you" as was taught during this reviewer's journey through the public education system.
Note there are a couple blatant factual errors such as a reference to November 31st and locating Menlo Park NJ 25 miles east of NYC. It's not clear if these errors were introduced by the author or by her sources but it makes one wonder if there are more errors that were not so obvious.
January 18, 2022
This earnest account of the life of Alexander Graham Bell is written with scholastic style, that slowly seduces the reader into the personal and public life of the inventor of the telephone. The odd, if not contrasting fact about this man who allowed us to speak to someone far away is that his main focus began, and remained, his passionate concern for the deaf people of our society. His beloved wife Mabel was deaf and had learned to speak by lip reading. She was his great love, his muse, and his stability through her sensibility. Bell was a man lost in an intense dream/reality of inventions, in discovery, and creating. The love between these two is such a melody of love, in height and depth, through out this biography. There is so much to learn in this book, not just about Bell, but about the life and times that underscore the technological umbrella we live under today.
October 20, 2022
A story to be loved
I bought the paperback version of Bell’s bio while at the Bell Museum in Baddeck, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia while on a RoadScholar trip to Nova Scotia. RoadScholar did not fail in presenting an insightful and beautiful trip but opened my eyes to an historical figure I knew little about. Gray uses her wonderful writing talent to bring to life a character who was by no means a perfect inventor but a real inventor, husband, father in his lifetime across the turn of a new century. She lets you into the person who was Bell and at the same time explores the life of those who are deaf. Where would we be if Alec had not married this deaf girl, 10 years his junior, who loved him with all her heart and all his faults. A wonderful study in personal relationships as well as all the details Gray gives us.
I bought the paperback version of Bell’s bio while at the Bell Museum in Baddeck, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia while on a RoadScholar trip to Nova Scotia. RoadScholar did not fail in presenting an insightful and beautiful trip but opened my eyes to an historical figure I knew little about. Gray uses her wonderful writing talent to bring to life a character who was by no means a perfect inventor but a real inventor, husband, father in his lifetime across the turn of a new century. She lets you into the person who was Bell and at the same time explores the life of those who are deaf. Where would we be if Alec had not married this deaf girl, 10 years his junior, who loved him with all her heart and all his faults. A wonderful study in personal relationships as well as all the details Gray gives us.
September 3, 2018
I really enjoyed this book. I had known a bit about Bell's life, particularly his work with the deaf, but this highlighted the many different innovations of the late 19th and early 20th century that he had his hand in, (the phonograph, powered flight ...) as well as some germs of ideas that came to fruition decades later. What is also special about this book is that it is also in many ways a love story. Bell married a deaf lady named Mabel 11 years his junior when he was in his early 30s, and this book highlights the role she played in bringing order to his life so that his many ideas could actually see the light of day. A very well-written and interesting account of an very interesting life.
September 5, 2022
Alexander Graham Bell was, above-all, an incredible human being. Unlike Thomas Edison, he didn't really have an entrepreneurial bone in his body. Both his mother and wife were deaf, and all his life Bell championed and supported education programs and schools for these students. He was a very decent man, well-mannered if a bit eccentric, and very respectful of everyone he met. He (and his wife too) would have been a fascinating person to meet anywhere. What a fantastic grandfather he must have been! Charlotte Gray writes a very remarkable biography of this incredible man and his wonderful wife. it seems she has included every important detail about them, as the book is both well-researched and well-written. An incredible book about an incredible couple.
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