* Maps and Figures * Introduction *1. The Information Network and the Outbreak of War *2. Neutrality and Vulnerability *3. Security and Radios *4. At War in Europe *5. In Pursuit of Cables to Asia and the Americas *6. Radio, the Navy and Latin America *7. The Quest for Independence *8. The Illusion of Success * Conclusion * Abbreviations * Primary Sources * Notes * Acknowledgments * Index
The fight for mastery of global telecommunications in the midst of the First World War is a subject of the deepest importance that had lain undiscovered until now. Jonathan Winkler has reconstructed the complex nexus of strategy, technology, and diplomacy with admirable clarity. It is a fundamental contribution that demonstrates the need for a whole new field of historical inquiry. -- Matthew Connelly, author of Fatal Misconception: The Struggle to Control World Population In a landmark book, Winkler shows how most of the issues of the information economy--and its handmaiden, information security--were thrust upon the United States by World War I, when the nation found that British domination of the cable infrastructure, combined with London's strategic grasp of its possibilities, reduced the U.S. to a humiliating dependence. How America tried to escape from the shackles of the British monopoly on communications makes a fascinating tale. -- Richard R. Fernandez, The Belmont Club (fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com) As children of the information age, we appreciate the vital role of communications in national security planning. Jonathan Winkler takes us back to an era when the principles of informational warfare were first being thrashed out--in foreign ministries, in military headquarters, under the sea, and in the atmosphere. A fascinating tale of technology, diplomacy, and intrigue. -- H. W. Brands, University of Texas, Austin Winkler tells a story that should figure into all future accounts of U.S. participation in World War I. -- Ernest R. May, Harvard University By examining the ways in which World War I sparked official recognition of the commercial and strategic importance of cable and radio, Winkler illuminates a vital, but neglected, chapter in the history of global communications. This is a thoroughly researched, well-written, and engaging study. -- Emily S. Rosenberg, University of California, Irvine
Jonathan Reed Winkler is Associate Professor of History, Wright State University.
The fight for mastery of global telecommunications in the midst of
the First World War is a subject of the deepest importance that had
lain undiscovered until now. Jonathan Winkler has reconstructed the
complex nexus of strategy, technology, and diplomacy with admirable
clarity. It is a fundamental contribution that demonstrates the
need for a whole new field of historical inquiry.
*Matthew Connelly, author of Fatal Misconception: The Struggle
to Control World Population*
In a landmark book, Winkler shows how most of the issues of the
information economy--and its handmaiden, information security--were
thrust upon the United States by World War I, when the nation found
that British domination of the cable infrastructure, combined with
London's strategic grasp of its possibilities, reduced the U.S. to
a humiliating dependence. How America tried to escape from the
shackles of the British monopoly on communications makes a
fascinating tale.
*Richard R. Fernandez, The Belmont Club
(fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com)*
As children of the information age, we appreciate the vital role of
communications in national security planning. Jonathan Winkler
takes us back to an era when the principles of informational
warfare were first being thrashed out--in foreign ministries, in
military headquarters, under the sea, and in the atmosphere. A
fascinating tale of technology, diplomacy, and intrigue.
*H. W. Brands, University of Texas, Austin*
Winkler tells a story that should figure into all future accounts
of U.S. participation in World War I.
*Ernest R. May, Harvard University*
By examining the ways in which World War I sparked official
recognition of the commercial and strategic importance of cable and
radio, Winkler illuminates a vital, but neglected, chapter in the
history of global communications. This is a thoroughly researched,
well-written, and engaging study.
*Emily S. Rosenberg, University of California, Irvine*
Winkler's book provides a lesson in the evolutionary nature of
technological change. Winkler explores the first global
internet--the international telegraph cable system that began
shrinking Planet Earth at the end of the 19th century.
*austinbay.net*
This story involves not only the history of communication, but also
diplomatic, military, technology, and business history. While
investigating interrelated developments in these fields, Winkler
recreates the global communication network in place at the outbreak
of the war and shows how each side engaged in the first real
information war. Finally, he analyzes US officials' reaction to
this new warfare and the policies they adopted to redress this
nation's shortcomings in the field of global communication. A
well-researched, highly readable work that makes a valuable
contribution to a number of historical areas.
*Choice*
Thanks to Winkler's careful work in military and civilian records,
the book recounts in detail how a small group of American
officials, spurred into action by the war emergency, tried to
increase their nation's control over global information
networks...Winkler's outstanding original research and clear
writing make Nexus a valuable contribution to the history of
information warfare, a subject that will almost certainly attract
greater interest in the years to come.
*Business History Review*
This is a well-researched and important study assessing the role of
global communication technologies and their control in wartime. It
provides a cogent analysis of how the need to develop our own cable
and radio links drove government policy. And it adds to the slowly
growing number of studies that examine the increasingly central
role of rapid and secure communication in both diplomatic and
military policy in the 160 years since the development of the
electric telegraph.
*Journal of American History*
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