Part II, Betrayal Summary and Analysis

This section, with ten chapters, is devoted mainly to Marconi's efforts to set up his company, advance his experiments in wireless communication, and build transmission stations in England. Crippen's wife joins him in London and takes a stage name, Belle Elmore. Their marriage grows increasingly troubled. The section ends with the death of Queen Victoria.

Marconi uses his mother's relatives and their London connections to finagle an introduction to William Preece, the chief electrician of the British Post Office. Marconi knows that Preece is at the forefront of developments in telegraphy. Preece is impressed by Marconi's demonstration and shares his vision for the potential of wireless communication. Gradually Marconi succeeds in transmitting signals that cross ever greater distances. Still worried that his discoveries will be stolen, Marconi begins the process of applying for a patent. In a...