The Television History Book traces the history of broadcasting and the influence it has had What would life be like without television? That we don’t have to contemplate this question (unless by choice) is thanks to John Logie Baird, who demonstrated the world’s first color television transmission 90 years ago in 1928. That same year the Scottish-born engineer and inventor also made the first transatlantic television transmission from London to Hartsdale, New York, and the first television program for the BBC. What did Baird have in mind as he built his first working TV set out of an old hatbox, darning needles, a tea chest, sealing wax, glue and lenses from a few bicycle lights? Did he foresee sit-coms, drama series, The X Factor or broadcasting the Hajj? Did he know that it would be used for propaganda as well as education? The story of television has evolved at breakneck speed from a small square box showing those first grainy images to HD images on screens that can be almost cinema-sized or as small as the smartphone that fits in the palm of your hand. The Television History Book traces the history of broadcasting and the influence it has had, and continues to have, over our social, cultural and economic life and takes a scholarly look at a medium often dismissed as trivial.