Empire of the Air

The Men Who Made Radio

By Tom Lewis

The story of how radio changed from the media of Marconi and Telegraphy to that of broadcasting voice on FM is a fascinating tale of animosity, egos against a background of innovation that has ultimately led to the modern communications age we live in today.

Empire of the Air tells the intertwined story of three American visionaries, Lee de Forest, Edwin Howard Armstrong, and David Sarnoff. These are the men whose imagination and dreams turned a hobbyist's toy into broadcast radio and ultimately launched the modern communications age. Tom Lewis weaves the story of these men and their achievements into a richly detailed and moving narrative that spans the first half of the twentieth century. This was a time that saw the establishment of RCA in the first age of broadcasting when the romance with science and technology was at its peak. The involvement of these men in the story of the RCA corporation that went on to be a behemoth of broadcast radio is fascinating.

Empire of the Air tells the tale of the pioneers at the frontier of a new technology, their entrepreneurial spirit, and of the tragic collision between inventor and corporation.

Size: 152x 228mm, 448pages
ISBN: 9781501759321