Circuits in the Sea

This book tells the story of the scientific talent and technological prowess of two nations who joined forces to connect themselves with a communications cable that would change the world. In 1855 an American visionary named Cyrus West Field sought to establish a monopoly on telegraphic revenues between North America and Europe. Field and the wealthy New Yorkers who formed the first Atlantic cable-laying company never suspected that spanning the vast and stormy Atlantic would require 11 years of frustration and horrific financial sacrifice. The enterprise would eventually engage some of the most brilliant minds in England, Scotland, and the United States, attracting men of science, men of wealth, and men of curiosity.