Awards

• Nominated for Bancroft Prize 2004
• Nominated for Rachel Carson Prize & Ludwik Fleck Prize 2004
• Nominated for Richard W. Leopold Prize 2004
• Nominated for Sidney Edelstein Prize 2004

Overview

How did the telegraph, a new and revolutionary form of communication, affect diplomats, who tended to resist change? In a study based on impressive multinational research, David Paull Nickles examines the critical impact of the telegraph on the diplomacy of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Case studies in crisis diplomacy--the War of 1812, the Trent affair during the U.S. Civil War, and the famous 1917 Zimmermann telegram--introduce wide-ranging thematic discussions on the autonomy of diplomats; the effects of increased speed on decision making and public opinion; the neglected role of clerks in diplomacy; and the issues of expense, garbled text, espionage, and technophobia that initially made foreign ministries wary of telegraphy. Ultimately, the introduction of the telegraph contributed to the centralization of foreign ministries and the rising importance of signals intelligence. The faster pace of diplomatic disputes invited more emotional decisions by statesmen, while public opinion often exercised a belligerent influence on crises developing over a shorter time period. Under the Wire offers a fascinating new perspective on the culture of diplomacy and the social history of technology.

Full Product Details

9780674010352

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Reviews

By focusing on the telegraph, Nickles reveals the complexity of interactions between technology and human behavior...in analyzing how telegraphy transformed diplomacy, he has made a signal contribution to the literatures on communications technology and on diplomatic history. And best of all, his book is a delight to read. -- Daniel Headrick Victorian Studies

By focusing on the telegraph, Nickles reveals the complexity of interactions between technology and human behavior...in analyzing how telegraphy transformed diplomacy, he has made a signal contribution to the literatures on communications technology and on diplomatic history. And best of all, his book is a delight to read. -- Daniel Headrick * Victorian Studies * In a study based on impressive multinational research, Nickles examines the critical impact of the telegraph on the diplomacy of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries It is an interesting study by a knowledgeable author and includes an excellent discussion of the Zimmerman Telegram incident. * Cryptologia * Nickles offers often interesting and different interpretations of well-known events. His is a timely and readable study of how changing technology impacted the role of traditional diplomats--and the degree to which they could be controlled from Washington. * Communication Booknotes Quarterly * David Paull Nickles has plumbed the archives of four countries to determine just how transformative [the invention of the telegraph] really was. Under the Wire is a subtle and impressive examination of history. -- Christian D. Brose * Wall Street Journal * In this study of the impact of telegraphy on the management of international relations, the reader is rewarded time and again by finding original observations regarding familiar events. This is a book that can have a shaping effect not only on the field of international relations but on many others, since it compels one to think hard about how changes in technology affect behavior and thought among groups with deeply rooted traditions and beliefs. -- Ernest R. May, Harvard University

Author Information

David Paull Nickles is a historian at the U.S. Department of State.

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