John Steele Gordon, Thread across the ocean: the historic story of the transatlantic cable

A Thread across the Ocean is a tale of historic and heroic proportions which the author fails to do justice to. The topic is the historic laying of the first telegraph cables across the Atlantic; however, though it is an enjoyable read, it is not a scholarly work. The depth of this work could have been so much more; one need only look at David McCullough's history of the Brooklyn Bridge to see the justice that this great engineering marvel deserves.

WAML Information Bulletin 34(2) March 2003 Gordon, John Steele. A Tltread Across tlte Ocean: Tlte Historic Story of tlte Transatlantic Cable. New York: Walker & Co., 2002. 236 p. $26.00. ISBN: 0-8027-1364- 5. A Tltread across tlte Ocean is a tale of historic and heroic proportions which the author fails to do justice to. The topic is the historic laying of the first telegraph cables across the Atlantic; however, though it is an enjoyable read, it is not a scholarly work. The depth of this work could have been so much more; one need only look at David McCullough's history of the Brooklyn Bridge to see the justice that this great engineering marvel deserves. While the author clearly concentrates on the economic and political effects this venture had on society, he fails to cover the great geographic or technical challenges of this project. The maps in this text are few and not welI detailed. The bibliography is scant. Clearly this book is meant for the amateur historian, not a scholarly researcher. Peter L. Kraus Assistant Librarian, Documents University of Utah __________________________________ ----l Review of Atlases, Books and Digital Resources 81