This study offers an analysis of the technological and entrepreneurial features of the Victorian telegraph service, together with the companies which ran it until nationalization in 1869. It shows a historical reconstruction mainly based on original and unedited documents belonging to a variety of archives.

This volume brings together the results of fresh research into the formative years of the International Telegraph Union (TU), in the period 1849–1875. Its internationalist approach is based on the careful scrutiny of a wealth of primary sources – conference minutes, correspondence, and parliamentary bills, among others – and calls for a fresh appraisal of the mechanics of the TU itself, as well as the moves and manoeuvres caused by constant diplomatic pressure. The methodology used here is multidisciplinary, representative of the contributors, who come from various scientific approaches and possess different skills and competences. The result of over three years’ detailed research, the book is simultaneously a history of media studies, international relations and business.

The first electronic communication network transformed language, distance, and time. This book researches the telegraph system of the British Indian Empire, c.1850 to 1920, exploring one of the most significant transnational phenomena of the imperial world, and the link between communication, Empire, and social change.