The Computers That Made The World by Tim Danton - Book Review

First it was Britain, and now it's... THE WORLD!!! No, not your typical Whovian villain's logic, but the natural progression from PC Pro's editor-in-chief, Tim Danton, as he brings a second tome on the history of computing to the table.

Hard to believe but it's been four years since I reviewed his first book, and whilst that is an informative rattle through the numerous machines that defined a decade and a half of personal computing in the UK, for his follow up he has dreamt a little bigger, darling. 

Bookended by timelines of computing from 1936 to 1965, The Computers That Made The World takes the reader back long before anything as futuristic as a "personal computer" to the very earliest days of what a "computer" was, and how that definition quickly changed within a very short period of time. 

We begin with, what else, Babbage's Analytical Engine, but this is only a brief introduction before the story proper and the first electronic digital computer, the ABC. Thence follows an at times convoluted tale as competing approaches and machines vied for recognition. So too did the individuals behind each device, and there's plenty of politics and politicking to spice up what is in every case a set of intriguing stories. Myths are dispatched along the way, and there is an ever-present wry humour that leads to some amusing footnotes. 

Having been a long time reader of the likes of Computer Shopper, I was familiar with some of the entrants - Konrad Zuse's work for one was something I recall reading about in an early 90's issue, but there are plenty of machines that I'd basically only heard mention of in passing and nothing else, such as the Harvard Mark 1, the Princeton IAS (although I knew of the associated EDVAC and UNIVAC machines), and the Pilot ACE.

This is, it has to be said, a rather more dense read than the "British" volume, and that's due to the nature of the topic - cryptography rears its head given the chapter on the Colossus, but concepts are well explained for the layperson, and in that instance, I am that person. Software testing, yes, maths, no. And whilst what if-ery is always an amusing side street, the revelation in chapter 11 about Boeing's approach to Ferranti, and the opportunity kicked away by the British company are the very definitions of an own goal and arrogant stupidity. In any case, each machine is given room to breathe within the text and the depth within the narrative is impressive. 

There.are quite a few photographs dotted about, and although the paper stock used does not lend itself to image reproduction, it copes well with the visuals anyway. 

This fine tome will sit next to its sibling as another excellent resource on the subject of computing history, leaving only one lingering question... Has the author enough material to consider a volume on the period in between his first two, covering the likes of IBM, DEC and Data General, as well as the subsequent rise of the minicomputer? Just a thought.

You can pick up a copy of The Computers That Made The World from the usual online and physical stores, as well as the Raspberry Pi Press site here. I heartily recommend that you do. 

The Computers That Made Britain - Book Review

The Computers That Made Britain is the work of Tim Danton, current editor-in-chief of PC Pro, the last surviving member of the UK's once titanic trio of monthly computer magazines (Personal Computer World and Computer Shopper have sadly departed this mortal coil). In this tome, Danton details a curated list of 19 home computers that defined what it was to be a personal computer user in the 1980's.

Published by Raspberry Pi Press, this is a no-frills book. The quality of the cover and binding is high but the stock used is straightforward paper - the only pictures in the book are those of each machine preceding its entry. This is not a criticism. It not only keeps the price to a very reasonable amount (£12 including postage direct from Raspberry Pi Publishing) but it also defines the purpose of the book. This was written to tell the tales behind each of these computers, not act as a gallery of old hardware. If you want that, I heartily recommend finding a copy of Gordon Laing's Digital Retro, one of which I bought shortly after its 2004 release. 

Each machine gets a well researched and very readable entry (the order of which is determined by its review publication date in Personal Computer World) detailing the background to the machine's creation, the story of its development and a history of how it fared once it hit the streets. Also included is a section on what came next, highlighting follow-on models in byte-sized snippets. Sources consulted for each entry are also included, ranging from interviews with key figures to articles from numerous contemporary newspaper and magazines. It is here that the sheer depth of research becomes apparent and is a reminder of the huge range of computing publications that existed during that time. At the back of the book, the author has also included a handy bibliography and pointers to online resources for magazines, newspapers and videos.

What did surprise me when reading this book was how many of the machines listed I have actually used or owned (though not necessarily at the time they were released). At some point in the last thirty five plus years, I have had the Spectrum ZX81, Commodore VIC-20, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC464, Commodore Amiga and Acorn Archimedes. I have also used, to varying degrees, a Research Machines 380Z (it was sitting unloved in a corner of one of the computer rooms at Tanfield Comp and Mr Butynski very kindly allowed me to play around with it from time to time), BBC Micro (schooled at a certain age), Apple Macintosh (OK, it was an SE, but still 1980's), Atari ST, Amstrad PCW8256 and an Acorn Archimedes (A410 to begin with in the school library, then A3000's - it gets a mention again as they were awesome machines and I am still a fan of RISC OS now). Twelve out of nineteen ain't bad, and I am not counting the PC as I have never used an original IBM 5150 - the earliest PC system I got to use was a Goldstar 286 in the very early 90's, though Derwentside College used a number of Amstrad PC1512HD's in their science labs.

It's true to say that nostalgia does skew your memories. Whilst I understand that from a purely logical point of view early computers might not have been as "user-friendly" as their modern day equivalents (though that is a subject of debate), it is my humble opinion that modern computing is far less interesting. This book reminds me of what it was like back then, with a heavy dose of nostalgia of course, but also makes me lament as to how staid the general mainstream computing scene can be these days. It must be repeated, however, that this is purely my humble opinion.   

Anyhoo, The Computers That Made Britain is a wonderful introduction to the wild and wonderful state of computing and the industry itself forty years ago. Well written and highly informative, this should be on every computer fan's bookshelf. Hopefully, it will be successful enough to warrant a second volume where some of the eighty-odd other computers not selected by the Twitter poll that picked the 19 included here will get their chance in the sun.

You can buy the book direct from Raspberry Pi Press here and follow the author on Twitter here.