The Postal Age: The Emergence of Modern Communications in Nineteenth-Century America

by David M. Henkin

Book Overview

Americans commonly recognize television, e-mail, and instant messaging as agents of pervasive cultural change. But many of us may not realize that what we now call snail mail was once just as revolutionary. As David M. Henkin argues in The Postal Age, a burgeoning postal network initiated major cultural shifts during the nineteenth century, laying the foundation for the interconnectedness that now defines our ever-evolving world of telecommunications...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226327213
• ISBN13: 9780226327211
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 238 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.5" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

riveting!

though i'm a history and media buff by trade, this book is appealing beyond a specific, academic audience. henkin's clear prose, grounded in a thorough understanding of his subject matter and an elegant and eloquent way with words makes this a fun and informative read for even the casually interested reader. virtually every page has me saying "whoa, cool!" and reading passages out loud to my partner. his trenchant analysis of the ways the mail developed over the course of the 19th-century combines the best of gender studies, race studies, visual and popular culture studies, and historical research. as the last reviewer said: it will change the way you think.