Description
By the mid 1850s Australia had been transformed from a penal settlement into one of the richest outposts of Britain's empire. But one thraldom remained the tyranny of distance from the rest of the world. The six months required for the exchange, by ship, of information with Britain bedevilled the conduct of overseas trade, ill-served the requirements of colonial administration, and starved the colonists of news of events and people at 'home'.
The first offer to build an 'electric telegraph' link, made by an English would-be contractor in 1854, was rejected by the governments concerned as unrealistic, which was hardly surprising at a time when less than 50km of telegraph line existed in Australia, and the world's longest submarine telegraph cable measured little more. Less than twenty years later, however, the end of a copper wire connection with Britain, via Asia and the Middle East, was landed at Darwin. The overthrow of Australia's thraldom began. Taming the Tyrant covers these beginnings and the ensuing 100 years, to the era of telephone cables, communications satellites and computerised terminals.
This book is more than an account of the end of isolation; it is a fascinating new look at Australia's past, enlivened by controversy, intrigue and many colourful personalities, some familiar, other hitherto unheralded. It offers much to general and specialist readers alike.
