This image is the cover for the book The Atlantic Telegraph (1865), The World At War

The Atlantic Telegraph (1865), The World At War

Written in 1865 by the war correspondent of the Times (London), William H. Russell, this book tells the story of the 1865 attempt to lay the Atlantic Cable from the Great Eastern, Brunel's mammoth ship converted to cable laying for the purpose. After relating the details of the failed attempts to lay the cable in 1857/58, the book describes and illustrates the expedition of 1865. While it, too, ended in failure, it showed that the ship was capable of completing the task, and the cable was successfully laid the following year.

Sir William Howard Russell

Sir William Howard Russell CVO (28 March 1820, Tallaght, County Dublin, Ireland – 11 February 1907, London, England) was an Irish reporter with The Times, and is considered to have been one of the first modern war correspondents. He spent 22 months covering the Crimean War, including the Siege of Sevastopol and the Charge of the Light Brigade. He later covered events during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the American Civil War, the Austro-Prussian War, and the Franco-Prussian War.

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