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The Inventors

Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, and the Race to
Create the Modern World
By: Shawl Lobree

History remembers the lightbulb and the telephone. It rarely remembers the race.

In The Inventors, I bring readers inside the fierce competition, personal sacrifice, and relentless ambition that drove Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell to electrify the modern world.

This is not a story of lone geniuses. It is a story of rivalry, risk, failure, and perseverance.

Step into the workshop, the courtroom, and the boardroom, and witness innovation as it truly happens.

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WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

I couldn’t put it down! If you enjoy David McCullough, T.J. Stiles, Stephen Ambrose, or any history that reads like compelling fiction, you will love The Inventors. It’s also a great read for any student interested in technology, entrepreneurship, business, marketing, or who just loves a great story!

—Jim Cianca, PhD, Head of School

The Inventors is a mesmerizing read. The phonograph has been hailed as Edison’s single greatest invention. Yet if Bell had not invented the telephone, it is likely that Edison would not have invented the phonograph. —Vilim Simčić, PhD, R&D Leader

The Inventors drops you into the workshop with Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell and shows that greatness isn’t a single spark—it’s the grind. Vivid, human, and deeply inspiring. I can’t wait to see The Inventors on screen as a dramatic television series.

—Stephen Burton, Screenwriter

The side story of Gardiner Hubbard was a true surprise, without him we might not know the name Alexander Graham Bell or Bell Telephone and AT&T. Western Union, Thomas Edison, and Elisha Gray would be the names known for the telephone. —Greg Billups, MBA, Industrial Engineer, Sales Director

The Inventors is amazing. Bell and Edison created so many of the technologies we consider necessities today. And the impact that Bell’s wife Mabel had on his work is quite intriguing.

—Charlotte McCloskey, English Teacher

It’s fascinating to learn how young Edison and Bell were when they did their most important work. They were not the white-haired sages shown on most book covers. They were bold early-career dreamers who made many naïve and costly mistakes, but they had determination and energy and kept going. Their perseverance is a great lesson for today’s would-be entrepreneur.

—Russell Peak, PhD, Systems Engineer

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