Whatever is said by or about IBM is of interest because of its prominent and dominant position in the industry. The authors of this book are sympathetic to the corporation, which is not surprising since they are all employees. They obviously had access to people, material, and files that outsiders would have difficulty obtaining. But they do not suppress the embarrassing aspects of the story, since we see personal foibles and corporate indecision and error. For example, a chapter on the Stretch project contains a wealth of technical material but does not avoid the internal conflicts that surrounded the activity.

The book is particularly interesting because of the concentration on technical details. It is healthily illustrated with photographs, circuit diagrams, and technical summaries of many of the machines and technologies discussed.

The book deals with the evolution from punched card machines through the introduction of the System/360 in 1964. The authors chronicle many of the technical and business successes, and some of the disappointments, of this era. Along with the innovations we are introduced to the innovators, with enough personal detail in many cases to make them and their struggles come alive.

IBM entered the electronic computing business during the period described here, faltered on several occasions, but eventually emerged as the force we now know. The role of senior managers was critical to the corporation’s success. The book shows them in action and, occasionally, in conflict with each other. Thomas Watson, Jr. dominated through this period, and some of his more interesting and influential decisions are presented.

Some chapters focus on specific projects, individual machines, or series of machines (including the 604, 701, 702, SAGE, 7000, and 1400 machines). Others focus on specific technologies (such as magnetic tape, ferrite-core, disk, and transistors). Because of this, the presentation is not strictly chronological. Time charts or some other means of reconciling the events related in various chapters would have been a useful addition.

The background to System/360 is the final material presented. It was intended to be, and subsequently proved to be, a means of bringing together several streams of product development, and several customer groups, to use a single architecture. This serves as a fitting conclusion to the book. It chronicles the experimentation with the attendant, necessary successes and disappointments.

This is a fine book which is interesting and authoritative. It should be of value to anyone interested in the history of computing.