The pioneering-women-rescued-from-obscurity literary subgenre is beautifully served by the authoritative and absorbing When Women Invented Television. Like all of Armstrong's books, it goes down like good TV: although it can be consumed without too much effort, its insights are likely to live on in the reader's memory in something not unlike syndication..

Armstrong uses her impressive analytic and research skills to unearth some much less-explored ground.

Though meticulous in cataloging their intersecting identities, [Armstrong] returns repeatedly to their shared gender. As a framing device, this can feel slightly at odds with very deep and detailed accounts of disparate treatment and outcomes for each of them. The question of how to think about women as a group with a shared identity is nothing new. Scott herself was inspired by Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique but 'felt trapped between the civil rights movement and the nascent feminist movement.' Armstrong finds herself in a similarly awkward position at times. Though she doesn’t always handle the juxtapositions perfectly, Armstrong successfully crafts an intersectional feminist history, one with room for four very different women in it. Armstrong succeeds in her goal of dusting off these women’s contributions and restoring them to their place in the pantheon of television giants. In prose as charming as the women she writes about, she makes her subjects feel knowable. Although we may never see some of these women’s work (television was often live and unrecorded in the early years), Armstrong makes you feel their genius and charisma, almost like you were there when they invented television..

The book's strongest parts describe the challenges the women faced.

Armstrong deftly illustrates how this quartet of women battled skepticism, sexism, and even the infamous Cold War blacklist to become vital players in the burgeoning days of the small screen.

In this compelling, well-researched work, Armstrong...uncovers the role women played in developing television, fighting for airtime as they launched sitcoms, soap operas, variety shows, and more.

... [an] enthusiastic outing.

Though Armstrong repeats some pieces of information over the course of the narrative, her history is fresh and welcome. Engaging and well-documented recognition of four women’s significant impact on the emerging TV medium..