The Computers That Made Britain: The Home Computer Revolution of the 1980s

I thought I knew a lot about this subject but learned a good deal especially about the other computers from the era. The writing style is engaging and far from boring, with comprehensive content, making the book great value for money.

Received this book yesterday and am enjoying it immensely. A generation of us got interested in computing because of these machines in the 1980's and learned to program on them, play games and even do some quite useful things at work ! Their legacy of course is still with us today. I was unaware of the quirky history behind so many of them and the achievements (and failures) of the people responsible. It certainly makes for a fascinating read. So far I have read the chapters on the BBC Micro, Acorn Archimedes, Sinclair ZX Spectrum and QL, IBM PC and Apple Mac as these are the ones I am most interested in but I will work through the others. You can read the chapters in any order ! Thanks to the author (Tim Danton) and many others (including the deceased Jack Schofield) who helped contribute to this book.

In this day and age of retro gaming and backwards compatibility on newer gaming consoles - many would perhaps be interested in reading where the UK was placed in the history of digital entertainment. A very easy to read and informative archive of all things British with respect to development and production of the personal computer from Sinclair's innovative ZX80, ZX81 and Spectrum (as work computers for word processing and accounts as envisaged by Sir Clive!) to the adoption of these machines for gaming and all manner of entertainment that has led us to todays powerhouses. Great and easy read - Recommended!

Having been heavily involved with the UK's home computer industry since it first started, I can state there are a lot of ommisions and errors .

I thought I knew a lot about this subject but learned a good deal. The writing style is engaging and far from boring, the content comprehensive, and the book is great value for money. Highly recommended.

This book is full of interesting stories on the birth of the home computer. Having either owned or used most of the featured computers i whizzed through reading chapter after chapter hardly able to put it down!Heard about it on the PC Pro podcast and would highly recommend to anyone with any interest in older home computers.

I was a teenager when these micro computers were sold, I had a ZX81 and later a BBC model B.I enjoyed the book but found it a bit tedious in places, it would have benefitted from some pictures, reminiscences or code examples. The book is factual, but I got the impression the author never used any of the micros. A few notable micros were omitted, I don't think the IBM PC should have been in the book.

I'm taking my time to read through this as there's a lot of hidden info I didn't know at the time it was happening! It's interesting to read about how each computer came about and also the insider stuff that happened to get the product out onto the market. For people like me who lived through that time it's great for nostalgic memories.And I would recommend it to anyone younger for the historical aspect but also to see how we got to where we are now!