“The Age of Edison: Electric Light and the Invention of Modern America”, by Ernest Freeberg

368 pages, Penguin Press, ISBN-13: 978-1594204265

After seeing “The Current War” (which, sadly, came and went with a measly $11 million dollar profit against a $32 million dollar price tag), I became interested in just how Edison, Westinghouse and Tesla et alia fought the war of currents, and so when I found The Age of Edison: Electric Light and the Invention of Modern America by Ernest Freeberg and 2^nd & Charles, I, naturally, had to have it. This edition is, in fact, part of the Penguin History American Life series, which they began publishing in 2013. Freeberg’s book, you’ll find, is an account of the significant changes that electric light brought to the cities and society of the United States at the end of the 19^th Century. Beginning with a background on the electric light, he discusses its predecessors and the peoples’ fascination with new inventions before transitioning to Edison himself and other American inventors and their struggles to create a viable light; the last half of the book focuses on the impact the electric light had on ordinary peoples’ lives, the cloud of doubt and wonder surrounding the new invention and even the cons of such a revolutionary innovation.

Perhaps Freeberg’s greatest contribution to this oft-told tale is instead of focusing solely on Edison and his greatness – and on Edison’s many competitors – he shifts the focus on ordinary people and how the times affected the invention of the light bulb. There are several interesting facts that illuminate the importance of such things as the Chicago Exposition and the many World’s Fairs or the iconic nature of Coney Island, all of which, ablaze with light, dazzled a whole generation. And this is the greatest thing to keep in mind about this book: that it is actually a social history of the start of electrification generally and electric lighting specifically (mainly in the United States), and less about Edison and his rivals and their competing machines. Oh, there’s plenty of technical stuff to be found within, but, really, Freeberg is more interested in how electricity and the electric light changed the modern world, and less in who invented what. Keeping that in mind will make The Age of Edison an enlightening read. Heh.