History of the Near Eastern Telegraphs before the First World War

The subject of this monograph is the rise and development of the telegraphs in the Near East from the middle of the 1850s until the First World War. The Near Eastern telegraphs were not originally planned to serve the Near East itself but to connect Europe with India. This book mainly discusses the lines from Europe to India: one line ran through Russia, a second one through the Ottoman Empire and a third one consisted of sea cables crossing the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. Many commercial, political and social questions related to the use of the telegraph are also discussed.