“An obvious labor of love, this is the definitive biography of Marconi.”
—Susan J. Douglas, author of Listening In: Radio and the American Imagination
“MARCONI is a tour de force, revealing the fascinating history of one of the most influential figures in the history of modern technology and the communications revolution.”
—David Kertzer, author of The Pope and Mussolini, Winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Biography
Guglielmo Marconi is arguably the central founding figure of the age of digital media. The pioneer of long-distance radio transmission, his genius innovation in communications irrevocably changed the world; ships could communicate with other ships, financial markets across the world could coordinate, and news could be disseminated—everywhere and instantaneously. Before the age of 40, Marconi was decorated by the Czar of Russia, became an Italian Senator, was knighted by King George V of England, and awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.
Despite his overwhelming influence on media and technology today, Marconi remains a somewhat enigmatic figure. His life and career have never been thoroughly examined and, in MARCONI: The Man Who Networked the World, Marc Raboy remedies the situation. He chronicles the man’s brilliant work as a physicist as well his personal life, from his relationship to fascism as a leading pillar in Mussolini’s regime to his relationships with his wives, lovers, mistresses, and children. Guglielmo Marconi was a fascinating man whose influence helped shape the early 20th century.
MARCONI: The Man Who Networked the World
by Marc Raboy, published in hardcover by Oxford University Press on July 27, 2016
($39.95 | 832p | ISBN: 9780199313587).