Over two years ago I read a review for Brian Bagnall's On the Edge: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore. Being a former owner of a Commodore 64 (1992-1994) and a Commodore Amiga 600 (1994-1997), the title interested me. I bought it but only recently found the time to read it.
The "popularized" history of the personal computer (e.g. Pirates of Silicon Valley) describes a two-horse race between the IBM PC and the Apple Macintosh. However, I didn't own my first IBM PC compatible (or Wintel) until 1997 nor my first Apple Macintosh until 2007. I had backed a third horse. The book presents the history of this third horse - from their origins as a calculator manufacturer to their bankruptcy in 1994 (spoiler?). It covers the technology nicely but also tells of the eclectic mix of characters behind the company, e.g. Jack Tramiel, Irving Gould, Chuck Peddle, Bill Mensch, Al Charpentier, Bob Russell, Bob Yannes, Bil Herd, Thomas Rattigan, Jay Miner, and Dave Haynie. Nice story!
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