The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph

The narrative chronicles an American entrepreneur's persistent effort to lay an electric telegraph beneath the Atlantic, tracing the project's origins, technical experiments in deep-sea soundings and cable design, the organization of Anglo-American companies, repeated expeditionary failures and eventual success after successive cable layings and recoveries, and the scientific, commercial, and public responses that followed. It profiles collaboration between engineers, mariners, and financiers, describes the innovations and setbacks aboard specialized ships, and concludes with the technology's transformative effects on international communication and honors accorded to its chief promoter.