Book Review- "The Story of Telecommunications" by George P. Oslin

Mercer University Press. Macon, Georgia.  1992
HE7631.082 1992
384 OS

Review by Gregory S. Raven
July 6,  1997

George P. Oslin was born in 1899, and he was 93 years old when his book "The Story 
of Telecommunications" was published.  Mr. Oslin's early career included work at several 
newspapers as a journalist.  His 35 year long career as public relations director for 
Western Union provided his strong ties to the communications industry which allowed him to 
write this incredible book.  Mr. Oslin was the inventor of the "singing telegram",
which originated as a publicity stunt to foster more common use of Western Union's telegram 
service by the general public.

If one word could be used to describe this book, it would be "comprehensive".  The span of
this work is just incredible, especially considering the level of detail which it 
contains.  Mr. Oslin was born at the right time to capture firsthand an incredible period in 
the history of telecommunications.  His career overlapped the Morse telegraph right up to 
satellites and widespread use of computers.  His book covers telecommunications from a very
strong US perspective, however, he acknowledges foreign innovators without reservation
where credit is due.

As I am writing this review for my "Telegraph Lore" web page, it should be noted that Mr.
Oslin's coverage of the Morse telegraph is outstanding.  In fact nearly half of the book 
is devoted to early telegraphic efforts, including good coverage of the Atlantic cables.

Two chapters focus on the early business aspects of the telegraph industry, and as such 
they are reminescent of Thompson's "Wiring a Continent".  This boils down to who did what 
to whom, and as such is not particularly interesting to a technologist like myself.  It 
would be interesting to a researcher investigating the pure business aspects of a 
telecommunications industry.

Oslin's interviews with the principals of early communications is fascinating.  He spoke
with the last surviving pony express rider, and spent some time interviewing Thomas 
Edison.  He was apparently on speaking terms with several US presidents.

The detail provided by Mr. Oslin is remarkable.  The footnotes at the end of each chapter
are quite fascinating to read in themselves.  In these footnotes I found a lead on the 
remarkable story of Franklin L. Pope, the somewhat mysterious inventor and patent attorney 
who often turns up when researching the development of telegraph instruments.  Also found 
in the footnotes is the origin of the popular expression "OK".

A fascinating chapter describes the Russian-American expedition which intended to build a 
telegraph line to Europe via Russian Siberia after the failure of the first transatlantic 
cable failed.  This is an incredible story which had an enormous impact on the United 
States in spite of the project's abandonment after the second cable attempt was successful.

Relatively little material covers the early invention and proliferation of the telephone. 
This is forgivable since telephone history is covered extensively in other books while the
telegraph has seen much less coverage especially in recent years.  Also relatively weak is
the coverage of wireless and early radio, which again is forgivable considering the 
volumes of material already published on this subject.

The book covers the history of modern telecommunications as it began early in the 20th 
century.  The story is very complex and confusing at times.  Oslin's book mimics the actual
events, as telegraph, telephone, and radio technology was advancing at a pace equal to 
that of today's computer and data industry.   Oslin completes the story by discussing the 
interaction of the companies with the US federal government, and he discusses the positive 
and negative outcomes of this relationship in great detail.  

Facsimile was close to Mr. Oslin, as it was perfected by Western Union.  He even coined the
name for the first practical business facsimile machine, the "Desk Fax".

The book covers microwave and satellites.  Western Union was an early adopter of both of 
these technlogies.

Oslin's coverage of technical subjects is remarkable for a journalist.  The few errors I
detected were minor.  His grasp of communications technlogy right up to the computer 
network was remarkable, especially considering most of the material on modern computers had
to be written when he was in his 90s.

A good deal of material is spent on the dissolution of Western Union and AT&T, which once
again, is boring material to a technologist like myself, but it appears to be a complete
coverage of a very complicated story.

This book is a must read for a person interested in either the evolution of communications 
technology or the impact of this technology on society.  The text is thoroughly footnoted,
and also include numerous fascinating photos and drawings.  For Morse telegraph fans there
is plenty of material, and even some photos of Vibroplex bugs in use.  "The Story of 
Telecommunications" is an astonishing volume of information written by a man who witnessed 
what was perhaps the most important period in telecommunications history. 

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