From the first notions of 'seeing by electricity' in 1878 through the period to Baird's demonstration of television in 1926 and up to 1940, when war brought the advance of the technology to a temporary halt, the development of TV gathered about it a tremendous history. In this meticulous and deeply researched book, Burns presents a balanced, thorough history of television to 1940, considering the factors technical, financial and social which influenced and led to the establishment of many of the world's high-definition TV broadcasting services. Highly illustrated throughout, this is a major book in the study of history of science, technology and media.