PRAISE FOR FIRE IN THE VALLEY

"Like indulgent gods, Freiberger and Swaine seem to love all of Silicon Valley's children, but their hearts are clearly with the hobbyists and hackers, gifted weirdos and insanely curious oddballs, the ones they show us most clearly."

-- The Industry Standard, Feb. 21, '00 (Full Review)

"Fire in the Valley is the memory lane of personal computing's early years…Reading like a high-tech Three Musketeers, but with characters out of Dickens by way of Popular Electronics…A book not to be missed, just plain good reading about the drama of the kids next door turning their dreams into millions."

-- New York Times

"Much of the book could also be called "Those Magnificent Men and Their Computing Machines." Their portrait is of creative and caring people whose sense of adventure and curiosity weighs heavier than their pursuit of profit."

-- Los Angeles Times

"Fire in the Valley is a comprehensive and evenhanded history of the personal computing phenomenon."

-- Chris Morgan, vice president of Communications, Lotus Development Corporation

"A complete and authoritative history. Great reading."

-- John C. Dvorak, columnist InfoWorld/San Francisco Examiner

"Swaine and Freiberger capture the communal spirit of the early computer clubs, the brilliance and blundering of some of the first start-up companies, the assortment of naivete, noble purpose and greed that characterized various pioneers, and the inevitable transformation of all this into a major industry. Must reading."

-- Philip Lemmons, editor-in-chief, BYTE Magazine

"The first book to chronicle not only the technological innovation, but also the social legacy created by the true "fathers" of the personal computer…a very human, sometimes funny and always articulate story of the industry's otherwise cloudy origins. The pages are filled with the people, the projects, and the frenzy that built the personal computer industry."

-- Computer Currents

"I couldn't put it down."

-- Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer Inc.

 

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Fire in the Valley by Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine