Beginning with the company's origins in the punched-card technology of the late nineteenth century, this wellresearched volume tells how IBM became so rapidly the dominant company in the computer industry. In doing so, it provides refreshing new insights on the origins and development of that industry.

The unique circumstances under which this book was written have contributed to its remarkable qualities. It was begun as an internally funded project to document research and development at IBM and, as such, benefited from access to all people and records within the company. However, with the downsizing intended to make the company more competitive in the 1990s, the project was divested and became the private property of the author. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the author has gone well beyond a technical history, adding insightful discussions of internal business and cultural factors as well as external market forces.

The author brings great knowledge and experience to this book. Employed by IBM for thirty-five years, he has functioned in a broad range of assignments including research scientist, product development manager, and corporate executive. For nearly a decade, beginning in 1983, he participated in IBM's Technical History Project, heading it since 1985.

He is the author of three previous books published in this series: Memories That Shaped an Industry (1984) and two volumes written with others from the Technical History Project: IBM's Early Computers (1986) and IBM's 360 and Early 370 Systems (1991). In reviewing the first of these books, the Boston Globe said, "Pugh's book is to good business magazine journalism as Jane Austen is to New Yorker fiction." That accolade seems even better deserved by the author's most recent effort.