Old History Makes New History, History
Gleason Archer, along with many other writers, such as Barnouw, early IRE publications, early RCA, GE and Westinghouse Reviews, Hugh Aiken, Lodge and others, help to explain the early setting of the broadcasting story. Several modern historians have criticized Archer for being the writer for corporations, and because he was, then all of this work of his is tainted. Well, that is just revisionist junk. Admidingly,
Archer had his sources deep in the corporate files of THE RCA, it is his recitation of sections of historial agreements, papers and other things that make him such a valuable contribution to the broadcasting scholar. His bibliography alone is worth the price of the book. Original sources are original sources, no matter how one might view them.
Excellent material and again it is seminal material, as Archer was a living recorder of those early decades in broadcast history.