The Struggle for Control of Global Communication: The Formative Century

343 Pages·2002·3.909 MB·English

by  Jill Hills

The Struggle for Control of
Global Communication
the history of communication
Robert W. McChesney and John C. Nerone, editors
A list of books in the series appears at the end of this book.
The Struggle for Control of
Global Communication
The Formative Century
jill hills
University of Illinois Press
urbana and chicago
© 2002 by the Board of Trustees
of the University of Illinois
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
c 5 4 3 2 1
∞ This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hills, Jill.
The struggle for control of global communication :
the formative century / Jill Hills.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 0-252-02757-4 (alk. paper)
1. Telecommunication—History. 2. Globalization—History.
3. Competition, International—History. I. Title.
he7631.h543 2002
384'.09—dc21 2002000260
To Stephanie

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1. Infrastructure and Information in the United States and Britain,
1840s–1890 21
2. Following the Flag: Cable and the British Government 68
3. Wireless and the State 93
4. The United States, Trade, and Communications, 1890s–1917 133
5. South America: Prewar Competition in Infrastructure
and Information 153
6. The United States: Competition for Infrastructure in
the Interwar Years 178
7. British Communications, 1919–40 220
8. Cultural Production and International Relations 244
Conclusion 277
Notes 293
References 305
Index 315

Acknowledgments
Any research that takes as long as this has accrues numerous debts. Many
of those who have contributed to the outcome have no idea that they have
done so. The names of others are unknown to me. Of those, I would like to
thank the archivists at BT and Marconi and the two anonymous readers of
the manuscript. In particular, I owe a debt of thanks to my colleagues at the
University of Westminster for a working environment that is both challeng-
ing and fun and for giving me the time to complete the book. My thanks
especially to Brian Winston and Maria Michalis, without whose support I
could not have finished this book. During its writing, two people who have
been influential in my academic thought have, sadly, died. Bo Särlvik and
Susan Strange were eminent academics and a privilege to know. Finally, my
family and friends have taken the inevitable sacrifices of time and energy with
cynical good humor. The book is dedicated to my granddaughter, who has
grown from toddler to preteen with the specter that “Granny’s book” would
never be finished.