The
chapter of the book written by Kaestle and Radway describes the circumstances
of the rise of print across the country. Moreover, it goes on to explain that
the consequences of such were not only a more well read and educated nation,
but also a more well connected nation. This was in part due to the
implementation of telegraph after Samuel Morse patented it in 1837. A product
of the new technology of the telegraph and the development of the railroad
system, mass media became widely available to the general public. Newspapers
moved across the country and telegraph sent messages faster than ever before.
The thesis of the chapter is “Across the six decades of this watershed period
beginning in 1880, the printed word became the sine qua non of influence and organization.
In a culture of print, the printed word acted as both an instrument and an
expression of change, whether directed toward more orderliness or toward new
assertions. As the nation expanded geographically and consolidated
economically, print became a key handmade of nationalization and
professionalization.” (Kaestle) Aside from this book both Radway and Kaestle
are accomplished professors and authors.
Carl Kaestle is a retired professor
of education, history and public policy at Brown University. He is also the
author or editor of five other books not including this one. Janice Radway is
currently a professor of literature at Duke University. She is also an author
and editor, but only to three other books. The pair had a number of scholarly
contributors to their book A Framework for the History of Publishing and
Reading in the United States: Print in Motion, 26 to be exact, including
two of our own from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The tone of the book
is primarily scholarly, as in I would not recommend it for a leisurely read.
The target audiences of the book are those who study within the field,
researchers, and students who are looking for resources on the topic.
The book itself is well written and
very informative from a scholarly standpoint, which is evidenced by the
multitude of reviews of the book. The overall tone of the reviews are that
Kaestle and Radway wrote a book
that preeminently shows the prominence and importance of printed text in the
late 1800’s through the turn of the century as well as the effects of such on
the general population. Humanities Magazine raves that "What the History
of the Book series shows so clearly is that the world we know, the communities
to which we already belong, are reified and reinforced by books. Such is the
incredible and incredibly flexible power of this primitive technology. Behold
the book: It is limited but perfect." This sentiment is echoed by many
other reviews of the book. Overall, the chapter was very well written, with
emphasis on the effects of the revolution of printed text in the late 1800’s
through the mediums of telegraph and the railway systems.
Works Cited
"Humanities | The Magazine of
the National Endowment for the Humanities." Humanities | The Magazine
of the National Endowment for the Humanities. National Endowment for the
Humanities, n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2014.
Kaestle, Carl F., and Janice A.
Radway. Print in Motion: The Expansion of Publishing and Reading in the
United States, 1880-1940. Chapel Hill: Published in Association with the
American Antiquarian Society by the U of North Carolina, 2009. Print.
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