Australia: 1872 - 1988.
Bibliography for international telegraphic communication.



This bibliography mainly covers references to cables in and to Australia but some other references are included to other cables especially related to the Atlantic Cable and to some of the Extension activities as well as to some of the main telegraph companies such as Marconi, Cable & Wireless and Reuters.

The categories of references are:

  1. General references.
  2. The Atlantic cables.
  3. Wireless telegraphy.
  4. Pacific Cable Company.
  5. US Cable across the Pacific.
  6. Other companies - Cable & Wireless, Reuters.

1. General references.

Standage, Tom (1998) The Victorian Internet, New York: Berkley Books.

An excellent detailed but very readable review of the history of telegraphic communication worldwide.

A major introduction to the field.

 

2. The international cables including the Atlantic cable.

Gordon, John. S. (2002) A Tread across the Ocean: The Heroic Story of the Transatlantic Cable, London: Simon & Schuster. An excellent account of the attempts to lay the trans-Atlantic cable between 1854 and July 1865. Very readable with excellent information.
Wikipedia British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company.  
  Electrical Telegraphy in the United Kingdom.  

3. Wireless telegraphy.

Given, Jock (2010) When Marconi's Magic came to Queenscliff ...
Inside Story.
Wonderfully written account of the first demonstration of wireless technology in Australia.
Weightman, G. (2003) Signor Marconi's Magic Box,
London: Harper Collins.
Excellent and readable review of the developments of the Marconi system from his first thoughts and experiments through to his death in 1937.

4. Pacific Cable Company.


Bendigo Advertiser Pacific Cable: 22 September 1902, p. 3. An excellent summary of the planning, financing and opening of the Pacific Cable.
Glover, Bill Pacific Cable 1902-1926.
http://atlantic-cable.com//Cables/1902PacificGB/index.htm


Excellent review of developments.
Johnson, George The All Red Line: The Annals and Aims of the Pacific Cable Project.

(note: easy to purchase the reprint at a low price on Ebay).

An amazing collection of original documents detailing the planning and politics of the construction of the Pacific Cable between Canada and Australia.
THE essential reading on the Pacific Cable.

5. The US Cable across the Pacific.  
  Pacific Cable: Should the Government parallel the Cable of the Commercial Pacific Cable Company.
https://archive.org/stream/pacificcableshou00commrich#page/n3/mode/2up
An excellent brief review of the considerations for the US cable and the "All Red" cable.

6. Cable Companies.

Cable & Wireless.  
Glover, Bill The Evolution of Cable & Wireless.
http://www.atlantic-cable.com/CableCos/CandW/index.htm
Shows good examples of Eastern's overseas forms and international offices.
Reuters.  
Silverstein-Loeb, J (2014)
The International Distribution of News: The Associated Press, Press Association, and Reuters, 1848–1947,
Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.
Excellent detailed account with major emphasis on Reuters.