Mostly for myself, this is an index of books that cover topics broadly connected to the history of the computing profession and its various branches. I’ve been interested in the subject for a while.
The Iron Age (1837-1956)
Analytical Engine to PDP
IBM’s Early Computers (Charles J. Bashe, Lyle R Johnson, John H. Palmer, Emerson W. Pugh)
(history)
History Of Programming Languages (Wexelbat et al, 1981)
(Academic)
The Heroic Age (1957-1984)
PDP to Macintosh
Unix, A history and memoir (Brian Kernighan, 2020)
(Memoir)
Covers the creation of Unix, Bell Labs. Ken Thompson, Dennis Richie, and DougMcIlroy get biographies.
The Friendly Orange Glow: The Untold Story of the PLATO System and the Dawn of Cyberculture (Brian Dear)
(history)
Narrow focus on the PLATO system, mostly as a microcosom of how computing intersects with people.
Hackers: Heroes of the computer revolution (Steven Leavy, 1984)
(journalism)
Famous account that helped immortalize the ‘other’ term for hacker. Covers the early personal computer, Wozniak, Stallman, Homebrew Computer Club, MIT.
Helped solidify a number of specific people as ‘important.’
The Cuckoo’s Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage (Cliff Stoll)
Classic story of tradecraft in the time sharing era.
New Hacker’s Dictionary/Jargon File (Steele et al)
A time capsule I have complicated thoughts about.
The Soul of a New Machine (Tracy Kidder, 1981)
(journalism)
Monumental piece of journalism. Covers Data General, a minicomputer manufacturer. If you read only one book in this list, this might be it. Helped get me into the field.
DEC Is Dead, Long live DEC (Edgar H. Schein with Paul J. Kampas, Michael M. Sonduck, Peter S. Delisi)
(Insider History, verging on Memoir)
(My Review) Covers Digital, speculates on the factors leading to its downfall.
The Supermen
(haven’t read it yet)
Exploding The Phone (Phil Lapsley, 2013)
(History)
Covers Phone Phreaking, Captain Crunch, AT&T
Endless Loop: The history of the BASIC programming language (Mark Jones Lorenzo, 2017)
(Haven’t read this one yet)
What The Doormouse Said (John Markoff, 2005)
(History)
Covers much of the same material as Palo Alto and Cyberculture.
History Of Programming II
The Gilded Age (1985-2007)
Macintosh to iPhone
(My review) Traces the lines between the utopian counterculture ideas and rhetoric and the way people thought about the internet. Covers Stewart Brand.
The Modem World: A Prehistory of Social Media (Kevin Driscoll, 2022)
(History, sociology)
Focuses on BBSs but stretches as far back as (and relates to) Ham radio.
The Secret History of Mac Gaming (Richard Moss, 2021)
Game publishers and developers in the Mac scene in the 80s and 90s. Good coverage of Ambrosia, Myst, Bungee.
Sid Meier’s Memoir!: A Life in Computer Games
(memoir)
(My review) PC game production in the 80s and 90s, autobio by a luminary.
Big Blues (Paul Carroll, 1993)
(Haven’t read it yet)
The Well (Katie Hafner, 2001)
(journalism)
(My review) Focuses on a famous California BBS as a microcosom of online culture.
Cyberselfish (Paulina Borsook)
(Journalism)
(my review) Gonzo review of the politics of SV in the 90s, with a very good insider review of early Wired magazine.
Shareware Heroes (Richard Moss)
(history)
PC Software industry, 80s and 90s.
Masters Of Doom (David Kushner, 2003)
(Journalism)
Covers Id Software from its inception through the creation of Quake, though coverage of course focuses on Doom, their legacy-defining hit.
Where Wizards Stay Up Late (Hafner and Lyon, 1996)
Classic account of the journey from Arpanet to TCP/IP. Of the books on this list, this is probably the first one I read.
The Cybergypsies (Indra Sinha, 1999)
(Memoir)
Personal account of life on the pre-internet for someone with a more outside perspective. Beautifully written.
Weaving The Web
(Memoir)
(Read a long time ago)
Tim Brenners Lee’s account of the creation of the Web.
Show Stopper! (Zachary Pascal, 1994)(Journalism)
Covers the creation of Windows NT. Covers Microsoft, Cutler. Gives an account at the individual contributor level of what it was like at that time.
Silicon Snake Oil (Clifford Stoll, 1995)(Opinion/Current Events)
(Read, but it was a long time ago)
High Tech Heretic (Cliff Stoll, 1999)(Unread)
Spam Kings (Brian McWilliams, 2005)(Journalism)
Investigative, focuses on a few specific spammers and their lives.
Flash: Building the interactive web
(Platform Studies)
Covers the Adobe Flash platform and the thriving programming/art scene it enabled.
Close To The Machine (Ellen Ullman, 1997)
(Memoir)
Professional’s account of the field in the late 90s. Gem of a book
Accidental Empires (Robert Cringly, 1992)
(Haven’t read it yet.)
His
Dark Age (2008-present)
The world of the smartphone
Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence, and Power on the Internet (Taylor Lorenz)
Covers social media, focusing on the rise of influencers.
Brotopia: Breaking Up the Boys’ Club of Silicon Valley (Emily Chang)
Focuses on SV culture in the aughts.
Working in Public: The Making and Maintenance of Open Source Software (Nadia Eghbal, 2020)
(Sociology, interviews)
Covers open source software production in the Aughts. An update on the dreams you may have heard in Cathedral And The Bazaar and Stallman’s Essays; where the rubber meets the road.
Low-level SV worker’s eye view. Covers the 10s.
Life in Code: A Personal History of Technology (Ellen Ullman, 2017)
(Memoir/auto bio)
Incisive autobiography of a programmer. Shares some essays with her other book. Some overlap with Close to the Machine.
Palo Alto (Malcom Harris)
Takes CtoC further. Historical analysis of SV in the context of the gold rush. Good coverage of the hardware side, especially Fairchild Semi.
Sandworm (Andy Greenberg, 2019)
(journalism)
(My review) Covers cybersecurity in the 00s and 10s.
Attack of the 50 foot Blockchain (David Gerard)
Covers the crypto scene in the Aughts and 2000s.
It Came from Something Awful (Dale Beran, 2019)
(History)
Focuses on online culture in the aughts and into the 10s.
Whistle Blower (Susan Fowler, 2020)
(Memoir)
Additional Resources
- HOPL Conferences
- Textfiles.com