This book covers the evolution of the semiconductor industry since the transistor was invented in the 1940s until the early 2020s —more than 80 years. It sits at the intersection of technology, economy, and foreign policy.

Books that take such a wide angle are rare, the usual route for business books is to focus on single individuals or companies. This historical approach to business enabled the author to convey the massive amounts of money poured by the USA’s government (DoD, NASA, DARPA) through decades to create, and defend, an industry — which is not something we often hear in the stories about Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Though, it’s also well covered the role of some talented individuals (Shockley’s mafia or Akio Morita’s Sonny) competing in the market to produce goods people want to buy — like handheld calculators in the 70s or personal computers in the 80s. Both things can be true, and the first part of the book communicates how each had a role in taking us where we are today. In the latter part, the East Asian countries take the front seat, and the story becomes gloomier: “subsides to companies”, and “industrial spionage” are the drivers, according to the author.

The main takeaway of this story is how the chip-making industry correlates with political influence: military power depends on it, and choking certain points of the supply chain can force countries or companies to go bankrupt. The latter is a soft power deployed by the USA against adversaries such as China’s Huawei or ZTE. It comes from the monopoly certain companies hold over pieces of the supply chain: you can’t produce high-end chips if you are banned from accessing these tools. These monopolistic companies are based in the USA or in countries that depend on USA’s military aid (e.g., Taiwan, Europe), hence its soft power.

There are two things I wish were a bit different about the book. First, we don’t get to learn the history of East Asia or Europe entrepreneurs in the same way we do for USA ones. Second, the economical or political aspects are widely covered, to the point of becoming a bit repetitive, while the technological ones are sometimes treated superficially.

I also have a complaint: the e-book is poorly produced. I only realized there were hundreds of (unlinked!) notes after a few chapters into it — it was impractical to navigate back and forth between the notes and the text, hence I missed them all.

All things considered, it’s a good book. It’s useful to understand the complex chip-making industry, no matter your background.