- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Vintage; New edition edition (6 July 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0099272822
- ISBN-13: 978-0099272823
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
524,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #90 in Books > Biography > Historical > Countries & Regions > Australia & New Zealand
The Singing Line
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
In 1855 a young scientist called Charles Todd left Greenwich for Australia, where he intended to wire the continent by stringing a telegraph line across the wilderness. In 1997 his great-grandaughter, journalist Alice Thomson, set off to retrace his steps from Adelaide to Alice Springs (which Charles Todd named after his wife, the author's great-grandmother, who never visited the town) to Darwin, where the telegraph wire would join up with an underwater cable from Java.
Needless to say, Todd's journey, reconstructed here through letters and family history, was arduous; more surprisingly, so is Thomson's. As she and her husband cope with breakdowns, illness and the poverty of isolated communities, it becomes clear that parts of the outback haven't changed much since Todd first saw them.
In Charles Todd and his wife Alice, Thomson has chosen intriguing subjects. Charles is brilliant and ambitious but increasingly unaware of the needs of those around him, particularly his large family. Thomson isn't afraid to cast a critical eye: "Certainty had helped Todd to span a continent. It may not always have made him an easy companion." But the strongest presence in the book is the enigmatic Alice, the sparky young woman who made family history by proposing marriage to Charles. Frequently separated from Todd, Alice oscillates between bouts of sociability, fierce spirituality and depression. Was she happy with Charles? The Singing Line is an exploration of personal as well as technological connections and it seeks to answer that question. --Tamsin Todd --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Review
"To return to a world in which news traveled less quickly, one only needs to read Alice Thomson's...The Singing Line."--"The New York Times Book Review
"From the Trade Paperback edition. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
i received this book as a present, and being 18 and never particularily interested in telegraph lines, it was with definite prejudgment that i first started reading this book during a four hour train journey. however, alice thomson's style of writing is such that it is part her diary, part her great grandfather's diary and also part history guide. i have found this book to be very absorbing and also highly detailed proving that thomson's journey was well worth it, but it also shows the very human side to the story which she tells. this book tells two very interesting stories - charles todd's, and alice thomson's. recommended for passing the time in a constructive way whilst enduring long train journeys!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an inspiring book for anyone who is planning a trip up the Red Centre of Australia, or who is interested in gaining a further understanding of what the colonists faced on arrival in Australia. Alice Thomson manages to weave her own trip along the telegraph line neatly into the historical account of Todd's great endeavour and perhaps in doing this ensures that the reader is not bogged down too much by the Victorian aspect. The arduous journey Thomson and her husband undertake amply demonstrates quite how much an achievement the building of the telegraph line was 125 years earlier. Her writing style is fluid and enjoyable to read. Highly recommendable, a great mix of history and travel with the latter bringing the former to life.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is book with a lot of charm, part travel book, part history and part family investigation. It takes you straight into the heartland of 19th century Australia, as well as opening up the little known history of pioneers like Samuel Morse and the author's ancestor Charles Todd who linked the world by the telegraph. Todd, one of those eccentric, driven people who embark on extraordinary adventures, put Australia on the map and helped create the global village. That Charles' patient, long suffering but equally eccentric wife Alice should be imortalised in Alice Springs is one of those historical quirks that you only find in oddball books like this. Todd's rivalry with the horrible Patterson adds some dramatic tension to this extraordinary adventure. A lovely book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Two great stories woven together
The great great granddaughter of Alice Todd, the woman for whom the town of Alice Springs was named, tells two great tales of adventure: the story of Charles Todd and his quest to... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Craig
A great achievement.
The creation of the overland telegraph line from Adelaide to Darwin was one of the great engineering achievements of the Victorian age, and this book does it justice. Read more
Published 17 months ago by South Yorkshireman
Excellent book
What can I say, this is an excellent book, very well written and researched. I really like the fact that Alice & Ed did the journey and we had the comparison between there... Read more
Published 20 months ago by The Beat goes on
Amazing Feat!
This is the biographical story of Charles Todd, the man who successfully managed to connect Australia with other continents by taking the telegraph across its interior and Alice... Read more
Published on 9 Jun 2008 by LindyLouMac
Science, History, Exploration & Travel in one.
If you liked 'Longitude', 'The Explorers' & Bill Bryson's 'Down Under' this is a really fascinating mix of the three - recounting the author's great grandfather - Charles Todd's... Read more
Published on 15 Jan 2003
A must for those interested in the history of science
This is a very readable mix of the story of the installation of the first telegraph line across Australia by Charles Todd in the mid 1800s (and who named Alice Springs after his... Read more
Published on 15 Jan 2001
An outstanding story of nineteenth-century Australia.
'The Singing Line' is a glorious and emotional tale, lovingly and well written, and a riveting and rollicking read. Read more
Published on 12 Nov 2000 by Geoffrey Woollard
seeing Australia through the eyes of the 20th century
Gave this to my grandmother for Christmas and she has raved about it to all her friends. Very interesting insight into the hardships that the early explorers encountered. Read more
Published on 5 Feb 2000
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