Empire of the Air

The Men Who Made Radio

By: Tom Lewis

Narrated by: Chris Sorensen

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 20th 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.

©1991 Thomas S. W. Lewis; Preface to the Thirtieth Anniversary Paperback Edition copyright 2021 by Thomas S. W. Lewis (P)2021 Tantor

Wow! Depth and breadth. Armstrong, Sarnoff, and DeForest.

There's a great deal of history crammed into one work here. Excellent to flesh out a lot of the rise of radio technology from an American perspective. reading this will likely expand your knowledge in radio and corporate lights.

A Good History of the Invention and Development of

I had heard about this book when listening to the Art Bell late-night talk show years ago. I think even then it was out of print. I had wanted to read it back then but I never got around to looking for it in the public library but it's always been on my radar. When I saw it on Audible, I had to get it. The content is great. It covers inventors like Marconi, Lee De Forest, and Edwin Howard Armstrong. Also covered is the history of David Sarnoff, founder of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA). There are mentions of other companies such as General Electric (GE), Zenith, Dumont, and other early entries in the radio and TV manufacturing business.
Before reading further, if you want to learn about the history of radio and why, if it had never been discovered we might never enjoy such conveniences as WiFi or cell phones, I recommend this book despite my two criticisms listed below.
I did not give it a five-star rating for two major (to me) reasons:
First, which is subjective on my part, the reader's voice did not appeal to me. I felt his voice was a bit too nasally for me. Perhaps if his pitch had been lower I might have enjoyed it better but his voice reminded me a little of Bill Gates.
Second, in the book, there are numerous references to photographs, newspaper advertisements, newsprint articles, etc. I obtained a free PDF version of the book and found these as well as some additional diagrams that aid the layman in understanding the basics of the three basic forms of radio transmission, continuous wave (CW), amplitude modulation (AM), and frequency modulation (FM). This audiobook should have had an additional PDF document with the aforementioned content.

Really takes you back!

It’s almost like a drama! But it really happened! Biographies of these men are filled with trials triumphs and tribulation. Helps being grateful for those lives that struggled so much. Giving credit where credit is due. Awesome and well written.

Man, moment and technology

I first knew this book in 1991, and saw the PBS special it inspired. Its even better 30 years later as I reflect on my own career as an engineer. De Forrest and his development of the triode cannot be forgotten, but Armstrong's singular obsession is such a cautionary tale of knowing when to let go; as I've offered others: Never forget people operate from their self interest, and always give your adversary a way out, or everyone loses. Finally it takes a company to complete a technology, and Sarnoff's rise from poverty to chairman by 40 is example of greatness without peer.