ABSTRACT
The harnessing of steam and electricity in the mid-nineteenth century created a new world of possibilities in business, politics, and public life. In no realm was this transformation more momentous than in communications, an activity commonly understood by contemporaries to embrace not only the trans-local circulation of information, but also the long-distance transportation of people and goods. New organizations sprang up to take advantage of this “communications revolution.” This chapter features case studies of two well-documented global communications organizations—undersea cable companies and news agencies—supplemented by a brief discussion of radio, telephony, and the mail.
