Telephone: The First Hundred Years

by John Brooks

Excellent Telephone History Story Contents 100%

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Science, Technology

369 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1976

About the author

John Brooks (1920–1993) was an award-winning writer best known for his contributions to the New Yorker as a financial journalist. He was also the author of ten nonfiction books on business and finance, a number of which were critically acclaimed works examining Wall Street and the corporate world. His books Once inGolconda, The Go-Go Years, and Business Adventures have endured as classics. Although he is remembered primarily for his writings on financial topics, Brooks published three novels and wrote book reviews for Harper’s Magazine and the New York Times Book Review.

Reviews

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting to read the history of the telephone as it was seen 40 years ago - before the internet, before cell phones, before the ATT breakup. All those things were unthinkable (after all, the transistor was only about 20 years old), and ATT represented the most solid business enterprise in the world. Reading Brooks's history today reminds us that small changes, mounting up, can revolutionize the world - and that more has changed than we can explain easily to our children and grandchildren. A warning, though: to enjoy this book you have to be interested in the growth of technology and willing to slog through some pedestrian corporate history.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not expect very much interesting information from this book but it
did surprise me a bit. There were parts about the role ATT played in WW1 and WW2 which I did not know about. The business parts were a total bore. The selection of books I have at my disposal is running low is the only reason for reading this.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable read, a fascinating depiction of; an industry, the company that epitomised it & the technology that under wrote it.
Additionally, a great account of the sentiment within America toward service & monopoly.

[Cory D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

As others have mentioned, this book focuses mostly on the Bell System and the US market, especially government interaction and business matters. Being a technical reader that gravitates more to the engineering side of things, I found the business history fascinating. At the time the book was written, Ma Bell was coming under increasing scrutiny for breakup, and the future of this natural monopoly was still unknown. In fact, the author does a decent job in the final chapter, describing the situation and events to come, crystal ball not withstanding.

Engineers, CPAs and History Buffs alike will find something of interest in Brooks' work.

[Bruce Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although there are some interesting nuggets within, it is basically a biography of a company, AT & T. In other words, if you want to know about each and every president of a telephone company for a century- this is the book to go for.

[M Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the best of the usually dire genre of the authorized corporate history. Brooks was the Michael Lewis of 50 years ago and his perspective of the technical, financial and social development of AT&T on the eve of its breakup is very nuanced, sophisticated and perceptive.

Even though I've read literally hundreds of these kinds of books, this one was full of surprises such as AT&T's role in the production of nuclear weapons or radar production in WW2. Or that it once employed 1,500 people in a factory 5 miles from my house.

Finally, though this was written in 1976, AT&T was already thinking about mobile telephony and DNA. Truly an amazing company, even though we've done fine without it.

[Pj · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF (not counted)
I immediately knew I wasn't going to get through this one. It's gone from conduit around wires, to the cost of phone call across country in 1915 ($20.15), to how the boardroom looks at 195 Broadway in NY in the first 20 pages. I jumped ahead and it was more of the same. The author rapidly tells stuff while bouncing all over the place. I wanted to like it but since it's written in 1974 and with the current times of well written historical fiction or history books...this one doesn't cut it for me.
The history is IN there, but I can't get past the authors writing style.

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is really more a corporate history of AT&T than a history of the telephone. After the first chapter about the genesis of the invention (the most compelling chapter, in my opinion), the book stays solidly in AT&T territory - the various CEOs, the long lines across the country and the Atlantic, technical improvements, etc. The author isn't a total corporate cheerleader, but he comes close.

[Nik · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book documents the rise of modern telephony (from Bell to AT&T in the 70s when the book was written). The author apparently did research and also had access to some of AT&T's internal info for the book. An interesting mix of technology and business. I guess it's a good story, but maybe the business aspect is what dragged it down for me.

[Josh Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Generally interesting (if you’re interested in business history), but a little heavy on anecdotes for my tastes. Not nearly as good as Brooks’ shorter journalism.