Empire of the Air tells the story of three American visionaries—Lee de Forest, Edwin Howard Armstrong, and David Sarnoff—whose imagination and dreams turned a hobbyist’s toy into radio, launching 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, a time when the American romance with science and technology was at its peak. Empire of the Air is a tale of pioneers on the frontier of a new technology, of American entrepreneurial spirit, and of the tragic collision between inventor and corporation.
Table of Content
Prologue: A New Empire for a New Century
1. The Faith in the Future
2. The Will to Succeed
3. ‘What Wireless Is Yet to Be’
4. Sarnoff and Marconi: Inventing a Legend
5. Wireless Goes to War
6. Releasing the Art: The Creation of RCA
7. Snapshots from the First Age of Broadcasting
8. Court Fight
9. The Godlike Presence
10. Armstrong and the FM Revolution
11. The Wizard War
12. ‘Until I’m Dead or Broke’
13. Victories Great and Small
Epilogue: The Empire in Decline
About the author
Tom Lewis is Professor Emeritus of English at Skidmore College. His most recent book is Washington. In addition to his numerous books, he has written and produced award-winning documentary films for Florentine Films and public television. He lives in Maine.
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