Troublemakers

The fascinating tale of the early frontier days of Silicon Valley and the men and women who chased innovation and ended up changing the world. Perfect for fans of the popular HBO series Silicon Valley, Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs and Ashlee Vance's Elon Musk. 

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**THE FINANCIAL TIMES BUSINESS BOOK OF THE MONTH** 
THE GRIPPING TALE OF THE EARLY FRONTIER DAYS OF SILICON VALLEY FROM ACCLAIMED HISTORIAN LESLIE BERLIN. 'The book is compelling as it maps out the building of the Valley, the challenges its early tech pioneers faced, as well as highlighting those who reached dizzying success only to suffer as the dot com bubble burst.' Financial Times 

‘Kaleidoscopic, ambitious, and brilliant, the book draws on a dazzling cast of characters to chart the rise of the five industries that have come to define technology today and, collectively, to remake the world.’ Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google and Executive Chairman of Alphabet, Inc.

Leslie Berlin's previous work has been acclaimed by the New York Times: 'so engagingly narrated that you don't realize how much business and technology you are learning along the way.'

Between 1968 and 1976, five landmark industries that shaped the modern world were launched within 30 miles of each other: personal computing, video games, biotechnology, modern venture capital and advanced semi-conductor logic. 

The dominant players in many of those industries - firms like Apple and Intel - had also been launched at the same time. During those early days of Silicon Valley, the first ARPANET transmission (now known as the Internet) came into a Stanford lab, universities began licensing innovations to businesses, and the Silicon Valley tech community began to develop their lobbying clout. 

Now, for the first time, the stories of the men and women who changed the world during these pivotal years are brought to life in rich detail by respected Silicon Valley historian Leslie Berlin.

Berlin shines a light on the wild frontier days of Silicon Valley where the old rules were broken, revealing how the modern tech world was built and empires were forged. 

Troublemakers is a compelling story of the upstarts of Silicon Valley that will appeal to fans of HBO's Silicon Valley and Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs. 

Further praise for Troublemakers:
‘Leslie Berlin combines the keen observations of an historian with gorgeous writing and riveting storytelling to write the landmark book on the Valley. The interwoven lives of wonderfully iconoclastic characters bring the formative years of the Valley to life with sheer brilliance. Troublemakers is a must-read for anyone hoping to understand America’s tech capital.’
Julia Flynn Siler, New York Times bestselling author of The House of Mondavi

‘Leslie Berlin has done it again. Following on her richly informative biography of Intel co-founder Robert Noyce, The Man Behind the Microchip, Berlin now brings us a definitive account of Silicon Valley’s “breakthrough years” in the 1970s. Troublemakers recounts the fascinating careers of seven little-known but enormously impactful players who shaped the Valley’s unique high-tech ecosystem. As entertaining as it is authoritative, Troublemakers is required reading for anyone seeking to understand how the tech revolution took root in the San Francisco Bay Area and eventually transformed the entire planet’s way of life.’
David M. Kennedy, Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History Emeritus at Stanford University, winner of the Pulitzer Prize