List of MapsPart I: Rising Stars 1 The Lightning Line 2 Samuel McGowan 3 Charles and Alice 4 Battle Lines 5 The Intercolonial Link 6 Todd's Progress 7 The Race to Cable the World 8 Alice 9 Escape Cliffs 10 The Cable Cometh Part II: The Deal 11 The Captain's Company 12 To Port Darwin, and Quickly 13 Double Deals 14 First Contracts Part III: The Great Work 15 Explorers for Hire 16 The Plan 17 Go North, Young Man 18 A Surprise for Port Darwin 19 From Port to Peake 20 Poles in the Jungle1 21 Number Two Depot 22 Doubters Part IV: The Sunburned Country 23 The Sweeping Plains 24 The Flooding Rains 25 The Ragged Mountain Ranges 26 The Steady, Soaking Rain 27 A Wilful, Lavish Land 28 The Far Horizon 29 The Grey Clouds Gather Part V: Patterson's Journey 30 The Ghost of Expeditions Past 31 The Wreck of the Gulnare 32 The Cable Has Landed 33 Heart of Darkness 34 The Voyage of the Bengal 35 The Pitiless Blue Sky 36 Hart Tumbles 37 Tidings on Birdum Creek 38 The Drovers 39 The Bengal or Bust Part VI: Todd's Journey 40 The Estafette 41 The Black Prince 42 Todd's Fleet 43 The Mighty Roper 44 The Arrival of the Tararua 45 Sending Supplies 46 Providence Knoll 47 The Mystery of the Missing Boat 48 Black and White 49 To the End of the Line 50 Across the Gap 51 The Join 52 The Long Ride Home 53 Goodbye to the Roper Part VII: Connection 54 Homecoming Hero 55 Patterson's Curse 56 The Fate of the Black Prince 57 A Link to the West 58 Barrow Creek 59 The Open Heart 60 Charles and Alice 61 The End of the Line Acknowledgements Notes Bibliography Index

'The story of how it was finally done, overcoming the perils of deluge and desert, endless political infighting and contractual chicanery, is told with flair and contagious enthusiasm' - Sydney Morning Herald'David Dufty's lively and well-researched book tells the story of the singing wires and poles and the man who built them, an English grocer's son named Charles Todd.' - The Australian