Synopsis

Alexander Graham Bell's request to his assistant to "come here" revolutionized the way America's citizens communicated with one another. Bell's humble but transformative invention, the telephone, remains a crucial part of daily life and is used by billions of people worldwide every day. The far-reaching telephone network drew in America's most isolated citizens and gathered almost everyone into a simultaneously intimate and national conversation. Then, a nation of prairie farmers, small-town families, and big-city tycoons could connect over great distances. Now, it is impossible to imagine the technological and social achievements of the twentieth century without the telephone's integration into society.