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The Rise of Radio, from Marconi through the Golden Age

By: Alfred Balk

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Paperback | 1 December 2005

At a Glance

Paperback
360 Pages

Age
18+

Dimensions(cm)
22.86 x 15.24 x 2.03

Paperback

$43.95

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As the dominant form of electronic mass communication in the United States from the 1930s into the 1950s, radio helped to forge a modern continental nation. It fused myriad subcultures--heavily rural, ethnic, and immigrant--into a national identity, unifying the nation in the face of the Depression and war. Later, federal deregulation allowed the radio of the "Golden Age," 1926-1952, to devolve into a chain-dominated, satellite-fed plaything of Wall Street. Today, radio has the highest profit ratio of all the media outlets--and Golden Age traditions of programming taste, diversity, balance, and localism are a legacy squandered.

This anecdote-rich sweep of radio history, from its birth as Marconi''s "wireless telegraph" through its current status under deregulation, analyzes the changing medium''s social, political, and cultural impact. It casts new light on many topics, including the roles of women and African Americans, programming sources outside the Hollywood-Broadway nexus, and arguments about Amos ''n'' Andy--once the hit that jump-started radio''s young networks, now a controversial remnant of a bygone era. The book is augmented with more than sixty photos, extensive source notes, and a bibliography.

Industry Reviews

"it's a fabulous book and the research that went into it is stunning!"-Mike Wallace, 60 Minutes; "will live long in the literature of radio and deservedly so"-Norman Corwin; anyone teaching a...broadcast history course would do well to consider this book"-Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly; "admirable...informative and entertaining...writing is clear...language is vivid...a fresh collection of anecdotes"-IEEE Technology and Society Magazine; "[its] admirably clear prose sums up a dizzying array of previous histories"-Journal of Radio Studies; "a fascinating history...and Balk's depth of research is astounding"-Chicago Life; "probably the best general history of the topic...excellent job"-The Illustrated Press; "thoroughly researched and documented"-The Antique Wireless Association Journal; "I could not put it down...excellent...I think I will read the book again"-Antique Radio Classified; "valuable"-Friends of the Old-time Radio; "should become a classroom standard"-Robert Lewis Shayon, Saturday Review; "The Rise of Radio is excellent"-Newton N. Minow, former FCC Chairman; "research is staggering"-Thomas Fleming, author; "a masterful work and a pleasure to read...ought to be the lasting work on the subject"-Everette E. Dennis, Fordham University; "well-researched"-Radio & Television Museum News; "entertaining"-Columbia Journalism Review.

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