The World of Ham Radio, 1901-1950: A Social History Paperback – Illustrated, September 11, 2015

This gift has been a pleasure for my Ham Brother. He likes it and has commented that it is interesting

I am a ham radio operator who loves to read. What a delightful history of ham radio that reads like a story, told by a story teller who is well-practiced at his craft of captivating the audience. This is how I like to hear history told - as stories, rather than as dry facts.

So few people understand the importance of the development of radio technology before 1950 and the political football the airwaves were and who had ownership of the airwaves.

Easy to read history of start of ham radio and how it became as it is today.....very interesting, particularly if you are a ham radio operator as I am.

I'm a professional American historian, and have been for about twenty-five years. Richard Bartlett was a productive American historian for twice that many. I'm a rank amateur licensed ham. Bartlett was ham born of hams for much of his 95 years among us. Naturally, having just begun getting my feet wet on 20 and 40 meters and seeking understand the culture of my new hobby, I bought Richard Bartlett's book believing it would be a great place to start.Using the ARRL QST magazine as a key resource for tracing the social history of ham radio, Bartlett traces the role of amateurs in radio from the technology's birth in work of Marconi and Tesla, through the early days of competing associations and the triumph of the ARRL under the leadership of Percy Hyram Maxim, to the renowned utility of amateur radio service in the face of expeditiona, natural disaster, and war.Protecting amateur frequencies against competing commercial interests, the importance of demonstrating relevance to officials and the populace, and the triumphal narrative of amateur determination to successfully turn sows ears into silk purses stand out as recurring themes. There are also interesting chapters exploring the role of ham radio operators and the development of radio technology in aviation, polar exploration, and seafaring in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.Two small negatives are worth noting. First, the chronological jumping back and forth that occurs between chapters, not uncommon in thematically organized histories, is a bit jarring at times. Second, and more importantly, I have a hard time accepting Barlett's claim that there is nothing new to be known in terms of ham radio social history after 1950. He concludes that only technological changes are worth investigating at that point.Certainly, the FCC's regulatory structure, hammered out in the 1930s, and the willingness of Hams to agree to self-regulate shapes ham culture. I suspect there has been a lot of cultural continuity driven by those early hams of the Silent through Baby Boom generation, and yet, if the culture of computer integrated and software defined radio experimentation, often maligned by the boat anchor set, the launch of amateur satellites, and the invention of the ubiquitous wireless technology that pervades our lives today has not spawned distinctive cultural developments through the Cold War and beyond, then perhaps it is a hobby in its terminal stage. I hope not. Bartlett's claim is, I suspect, a natural outgrowth of his nostalgic review of his own 70+ years of personal experience as a ham (this was one of Bartlett's last historical works prior to his death in his 90s in 2015).Those are minor points and this is a great place to start exploring the history and culture of radio amateurs in a glorious period of amateur inventiveness in American history.

An excellent book on the early history of ham radio. Not technical, but covers the transition from spark to CW, phone and newer modes. Interesting history of all the major expeditions to the polar regions using ham radio, it's importance during natural disasters, and World Wars. Details the efforts of the ARRL to form a united effort to establish coast-to-coast relays, and effectively represent amateur interests in government and international regulations. The various military branches' radio schools during WWII, their training methods, and programs was particularly interesting. Highly recommended.

Thus far I am still reading this book but I have found it very well written and just full of great history.To my amazement the author is the brother of Bart Bartlett who was a neighbor and good friend who helped me many times when I was a teenager and just getting into Ham Radio. I use to listen to Bart's code practice transmissions from Belmont, CA to get my code speed up which was a great benefit to me when I became a Radioman in the U S Navy.

A good history of the first 50 years of ham radio, from a US perspective. Much interesting detail about the legal battles to keep ham radio going. Also great reporting on the use of amateur radio in historic expeditions to the poles to the jungles, etc.

Also für Funkamateure die sich für die Geschichte ihres Hobby interessieren ein muss, sehr schön geschrieben, viele Details und auch viel zu lachen, aber auch ernste Themen wie der Krieg werden behandelt. Erstaunlich was die ARRL für den Amateurfunk auf der ganzen Welt geleistet hat. Dies war alles für mich (Lizenz seit 1987) alles neu. Ein Punkt Abzug gibt es für Rechtschreibfehler und Absätze die "doppelt" vorhanden sich.

Great

What a shame that the manuscript for this interesting book did not receive the benefit of a thorough edit by a knowledgeable person before it was published. I found it to be full of minor errors and typos (the First World War ended on 11 October 1918, Lbs used as a suffix instead of £ as a prefix, Marconi sending the first transatlantic radio signal from Wales). The list is long and for me it detracted from the story because I worry that if there are so many things that I know are wrong, how many things are there that I don't know about? As a lifelong radio amateur I love the subject matter and very much regret that there are so many silly mistakes which could have easily been corrected.