ENIAC: The Triumphs and Tragedies of the World's First Computer

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Summary: Loved this book!
Review: This was a fascinating read! "User-friendly," packed with well-researched content presented in a smooth, seamless style. I'd highly recommend this book. Well done!

Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: Very interesting book. You would think it would be somewhat boring or dry, but I actually had a tough time putting it down until I was done with it. I would highly recommend it if you're into computers, history, and geek stuff. =)

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Summary: Lies, lies and more lies.
Review: When I saw this book on the shelf and read the title I could not quite believe it so I turned to the publishing date and saw it was recent. I then read the credits and index to see if I could find anything resembling Turing, Bletchley Park, Station X etc. - nothing. This is thus a shameful book. Eniac was not the first computer. That honour belongs to Colossus, a machine designed and built by Tommy Flowers of the GPO labs, Dollis Hill in North-west London. This machine was used to decode "Fish" the high-speed teleprinter code used between Hitler and his generals. This was an automatic successor to the already-cracked manual "Enigma" code. Design of Colossus began in February 1943 and the first machine was operating that December. This is of course just the latest in a succession of American thefts of other's honours. Hollywood recently stole the honour for the recovery of the naval Enigma cipher key "Shark" from a sinking submarine, showing the world how brave were the Americans who pulled off the success. In fact these codes were recovered from U-559 by Lt Anthony Fasson, AB Colin Grazier and Naafi boy Tommy Brown of HMS Petard. Fasson and Grazier went down with the submarine. Come on America, this is unworthy. There must be several things that you actually did first and it is time you stopped stealing other peoples glory. Nobody is impressed and it makes you look dirty.

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Summary: A simple question leads to a fascinating journey
Review: When I was covering the personal computer industry for The Wall Street Journal, a simple question was put to me: Who invented the first computer? Answering that question became a thrilling journey. What I found was that the invention of the first modern computer was a gripping tale, and the inventors themselves, who also founded the first computer company, were inexplicably and unjustifiably forgotten. I was fortunate enough to uncover new documents and long-forgotten records that bring new clarity to the story. I even got to hunt through dusty boxes of personal papers and childhood toys of the inventors--material never before available to historians or journalists. The result, I hope, is a book that not only entertains and educates, but also clarifies the much-debated origins of the computer and brings some redemption for those unjustifiably stripped of proper credit.