Items related to The Singing Line
Synopsis
This work charts the author's journey in the footsteps of her great-great grandfather, Charles Heavitree Todd, the man who strung the telegraph across Australia. It brings together a mix of family history and exploration with a young couple's trek, as they follow the same line 150 years later.
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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
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.
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The Singing Line
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Chatto & Windus, London, 1999
ISBN 10: 070116493X
ISBN 13: 9780701164935
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The Singing Line
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The Singing Line
Published by
Chatto & Windus, London, 1999
ISBN 10: 070116493X
ISBN 13: 9780701164935
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Trade Paperback. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Very Good condition. Illustrated with Black and White Photographs. Previous owner's details to preliminary pages. Robust, professional packaging and tracking provided for all parcels. 292 pages. The interesting story of the man [Charles Todd] who strung the telegraph across Australia, and the woman [Alice Todd] who gave her name to Alice Springs - told by the great-great-grandaughter of Alice Todd. Seller Inventory # 211236
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The Singing Line
Published by
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ISBN 10: 070116493X
ISBN 13: 9780701164935
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Secondhand, Paperback. [Author], [Publisher]. NB: This is a secondhand book in very good condition. See our FAQs for more information. Please note that the jacket image is indicative only. Author: Alice Thomson Format: Paperback Number of Pages: 288 The story of the man who strung the Telegraph Line across Australia, and the woman who gave her name to Alice Springs. Secondhand, Paperback. Seller Inventory # 9780701164935-SECONDHAND
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The Singing Line
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ISBN 10: 070116493X
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THE SINGING LINE. The Story of the Man who strung the Telegraph across Australia, and the Woman who gave her name to Alice Springs.
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ISBN 10: 070116493X
ISBN 13: 9780701164935
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Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. A very good copy with previous owner's name on half-title. Pp. 292. Seller Inventory # ABE-1780238759251
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The Singing Line - the story of the Man who strung the Telegraph across Australia, and the Woman who gave her Name to Alice Springs
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Chatto & Windus, Australia, 1999
ISBN 10: 070116493X
ISBN 13: 9780701164935
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The Singing Line - the story of the Man who strung the Telegraph across Australia, and the Woman who gave her Name to Alice Springs
Published by
Chatto & Windus, London, 1999
ISBN 10: 070116493X
ISBN 13: 9780701164935
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Soft cover
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