Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio

by Tom Lewis

Overview

Empire of the Air tells the story of three American visionaries—Lee de Forest, Edwin Howard Armstrong, and David Sarnoff—whose imagination and dreams turned a hobbyist's toy into radio, launching the modern communications age. Tom Lewis weaves the story of these men and their achievements into a richly detailed and moving narrative that spans the first half of the twentieth century, a time when the American romance with science and technology was at its peak. Empire of the Air is a tale of pioneers on the frontier of a new technology, of American entrepreneurial spirit, and of the tragic collision between inventor and corporation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501759321
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	09/15/2021
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.05(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Tom Lewis is Professor Emeritus of English at Skidmore College. His most recent book is Washington. In addition to his numerous books, he has written and produced award-winning documentary films for Florentine Films and public television. He lives in Maine.

Table of Contents

Prologue: A New Empire for a New Century
1. The Faith in the Future
2. The Will to Succeed
3. "What Wireless Is Yet to Be"
4. Sarnoff and Marconi: Inventing a Legend
5. Wireless Goes to War
6. Releasing the Art: The Creation of RCA
7. Snapshots from the First Age of Broadcasting
8. CourtFight
9. The Godlike Presence
10. Armstrong and the FM Revolution
11. The Wizard War
12. "Until I'm Dead or Broke"
13. Victories Great and Small
Epilogue: The Empire in Decline

What People are Saying About This

David McCullough

The story of our breakaway times cannot be properly told or understood without the story of radio, and the story of radio has never been better told than in Empire of the Air.

Editorial Reviews

Lewis's book, which relates the civil wars between the principal figures in the invention and development of radio, is an achievement in its own right: finely detailed, engagingly written, and unexpectedly dramatic.

Boston Globe

A compelling tale that takes readers back to another era and shows us how our lives were transformed forever.

Washington Post

[A] compelling read for anyone with an interest in the history of radio and television.

RadioUser

Alternating between the technical wizardry, personality quirks, and feuds of these men, and the story of the growth of the industry itself and its influence over American life and leisure, the book is fast-paced, fun reading and doubles as a useful teaching tool for teachers of American history and culture, science, and mass communication.

Library Journal

Empire of the Air is indispensable for anyone curious about the beginnings of broadcasting and there is more than enough personal drama and social and political history to make the book entertaining and informative for the general reader.

Globe & Mail

[Lewis] has all of the skills and instincts of a historian, a gift for clear description of complex technologies and a real passion for detail.

|Los Angeles Times

The lives of the two innovative technologists (Lee DeForest and Edwin Armstrong) and the entrepreneur (David Sarnoff) whose work led to the success of radio provide the basis for this well-researched and superbly written volume.

Publishers' Weekly