In an age when half the population walks around gabbling away with a phone held to their ears, or frequently in their ears, and cannot imagine life without this wonderful, life-enhancing machine, it is instructive to go back to the dawn of the telephone era; then you could buy books like this one, from the then publisher of Model Engineer magazine, which told you how to make and use telephones and the then separate microphones. Those described in this fascinating little book were intended for domestic use, connecting various parts of a house, but they largely embodied the technicalities and practices used in the various town and regional systems. 80 pages. 31 engravings, illustrations or circuit diagrams. Paperback. Lindsay Publications