The Eastern Telegraph Company, established in 1872, oversaw the telegraphic networks that connected Britain to the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. By the 1890s Britain controlled more than 65 percent of the world's telegraphic networks through the Eastern Telegraph Company: the only region that was not under company domination was the Atlantic, where several, companies laid cables linking Europe and the United States. Formed out of four companies that operated telegraph networks between India, and Britain, Eastern Telegraph extended these networks out into East Asia and the Pacific. The company connected Australia and New Zealand in 1876, and from 1879 to 1889 it-laid the key submarine cables alongdie coasts of Africa, including the line running from the company's base of operations in Aden (in present-day Yemen) to Durban in South Africa. The British government subsidized the company's global reach as it emphasized the importance...