Empire of the Air The Men Who Made Radio

This video and the companion book offer a great glimpse into the background of how radio across the globe developed 100 years ago. This video and book provide a 'lab bench' view into the labs of Armstrong and De Forest as they and other developed the technologies that still run our economies today; not just AM and FM commercial radio but spin off technologies like point to point communications that lead to our always on society of today. It also provides a view into the business drive that business men like David Sarnoff had that made radio and television what it is today - for the better and worse. One of the things that I particularly liked about this video and book was that it dives into the deep personal backgrounds of each of the lives reviewed. It was honest and shared not only the highlights of these men's lives but also the pitfalls. None of these men were without their character flaws, but then who among us don't share some of these same traits. From this we can better learn their motives and what drove them to the great successes (and failures) they had and apply this to all of our lives today. Finally for Sarnoff in particular, as an immigrant of the early 1900's, he was driven deeply to success to not only support his family, but to better his adopted country. One wonders what lessons we could learn today from his and the other men's examples? A great view and read. I recommend both! Read more

Very well made documentary about the complete history of the very beginning of radio and It also goes into great details about these ingenuous inventors and their accomplishments, failures, friends and enemies. A must buy, I love it. Read more

One of Ken Burns greatest videos. Empire Of The Air recounts the history of the men who made radio which will explain to you how easily someone can cheat a good man out of his due credit and proclaim themselves a hero, even when it results in the death of a great man. Read more

This is an in-depth and well illustrated video of the people and machines that made radio possible. It shows the personalities and financial situations of these great innovators. A must-see for anyone who wants to learn how global communications got its start. Read more

Ken Burns does an excellent job on the history of radio. Read more

Maybe it's the fact that at the time I bought these (I bought the DVD as well) I chose to immerse myself in this work to escape the grotesque vulgarities of our political/economic system just to find them again, live and in living color from a century ago. The puffery of Lee Deforest, Machiavellian vanity of David Sarnoff and misplaced manic genius and optimism of Edwin Howard Armstrong would make a great Ron Howard movie. (In fact, you can probably glean some of the personality archetype candidates for the three main roles by reviewing "Cinderella Man", after that it sort of "casts itself" in your mind's eye....) The great American story I suppose has never been that of "the better mousetrap" but rather the better manipulator of the powers that be that will market and license the widget in question. If you like technology (particularly if you're partial to the analog heritage end of it)and history it's an indispensible guide to understanding how AM, FM and Television came to be. The book fleshes out in great detail most of the accounts given in the DVD. I highly recommend purchasing both. For me, a GREAT read! Read more

This is the story of the three men responsible for bringing radio and television into our homes. We take both for granted, as if they've always been there. Each man was obsessed with his work. One was for the most part a phony and took credit for the work of others. He invented what eventually made radio and television possible but couldn't explain how it worked. The other two were geniuses in very different ways. At first they were friends but over time became enemies. Prolonged lawsuits over patents consumed huge amounts of time and money and were responsible for the very tragic death of one. He was obsessed with proving he was right. The attitude of the other can be seen in something he used to say; "I don't get ulcers, I give them". This is a must see if you're interested in the history of radio and television. Read more

One of the best Ken burns documentaries. It seems to be a little less in depth than other much longer series, while this is a self-contained 2 hour documentary, but that makes it seem more like a movie and its enthralling to watch all the way through. Read more