Wiring the World

been produced has at least ensured that it has been published. The distinctiveness of Hull’s telephone service has diminished in recent years with the privatization of the UK’s telecommunications networks. At one time Hull’s cream public kiosks stood out when elsewhere in Britain the red telephone box was ubiquitous but that contrast has practically disappeared now. Yet if today one visits Hull one finds that it still retains some of its old independence of spirit, of which its telephone department was once an example. Having been almost ignored for so long in such few histories of British telecommunications that have been published, Hull’s telephone undertaking now has a wellresearched and very readable book that begins to redress that imbalance. What must be remembered when considering purchase of this large and hefty softback volume (it weighs in at about 400g) is that it is not a technical nor a business history but largely a social one.