Includes bibliographical references (pages 139-145) and index.
Timeline -- 1. The invention and development of the telegraph, 1780s-1870s -- 2. The invention of the telephone, 1876 -- 3. From electric toy to business tool, 1876-1893 -- 4. Expansion, competition, and the remaking of the Bell monopoly, 1893-1918 -- 5. Consolidation in the interwar period, 1918-1945 -- 6. The calm before the storm, 1945-1970s -- 7. Stormy weather, telecommunications deregulation, and the new digital world, 1970s- -- 8. The global mobile, 1980s- -- 9. Mobile cultures, 1990s- -- Glossary.