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The Mysterious Affair at Olivetti : IBM, the CIA, and the Cold War- HCDJ -VG 1st
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Located in: Lisbon, New Hampshire, United States
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Estimated between Mon, 17 Jun and Sat, 22 Jun to 43230
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eBay item number:226111018407
Item specifics
- Condition
- ISBN
- 9780451493651
- Book Title
- Mysterious Affair at Olivetti : IBM, the CIA, and the Cold War Conspiracy to Shut down Production of the World's First Desktop Computer
- Item Length
- 9.5 in
- Publisher
- Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
- Publication Year
- 2019
- Format
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- Illustrator
- Yes
- Item Height
- 1 in
- Genre
- Technology & Engineering, Computers, True Crime, Business & Economics, Political Science
- Topic
- Industries / Computers & Information Technology, Intelligence & Espionage, Espionage, Inventions, Computer Science, Corporate & Business History
- Item Width
- 6.5 in
- Item Weight
- 22.9 Oz
- Number of Pages
- 320 Pages
About this product
Product Information
The never-before-told true account of the design and development of the first desktop computer by the world's most famous high-styled typewriter company, more than a decade before the arrival of the Osborne 1, the Apple 1, the first Intel microprocessor, and IBM's PC5150. The human, business, design, engineering, cold war, and tech story of how the Olivetti company came to be, how it survived two world wars and brought a ravaged Italy back to life, how after it mastered the typewriter business with the famous "Olivetti touch," it entered the new, fierce electronics race; how its first desktop compter, the P101, came to be; how, within eighteen months, it had caught up with, and surpassed, IBM, the American giant that by then had become an arm of the American government, developing advanced weapon systems; Olivetti putting its own mainframe computer on the market with its desktop prototype, selling 40,000 units, including to NASA for its lunar landings. How Olivetti made inroads into the US market by taking control of Underwood of Hartford CT as an assembly plant for Olivetti's own typewriters and future miniaturized personal computers; how a week after Olivetti purchased Underwood, the US government filed an antitrust suit to try to stop it; how Adriano Olivetti, the legendary idealist, socialist, visionary, heir to the company founded by his father, built the company into a fantastical dynasty--factories, offices, satellite buildings spread over more than fifty acres--while on a train headed for Switzerland in 1960 for supposed meetings and then to Hartford, never arrived, dying suddenly of a heart attack at fifty-eight . . . how eighteen months later, his brilliant young engineer, who had assembled Olivetti's superb team of electronic engineers, was killed, as well, in a suspicious car crash, and how the Olivetti company and the P101 came to its insidious and shocking end.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
ISBN-10
0451493656
ISBN-13
9780451493651
eBay Product ID (ePID)
15038311923
Product Key Features
Book Title
Mysterious Affair at Olivetti : IBM, the CIA, and the Cold War Conspiracy to Shut down Production of the World's First Desktop Computer
Format
Hardcover
Language
English
Topic
Industries / Computers & Information Technology, Intelligence & Espionage, Espionage, Inventions, Computer Science, Corporate & Business History
Publication Year
2019
Illustrator
Yes
Genre
Technology & Engineering, Computers, True Crime, Business & Economics, Political Science
Number of Pages
320 Pages
Dimensions
Item Length
9.5 in
Item Height
1 in
Item Width
6.5 in
Item Weight
22.9 Oz
Additional Product Features
Lc Classification Number
Hd9696.2.I82s43 2019
Reviews
"Tantalizing ... colorful ... Secrest marshals an impressive array of circumstantial evidence encompassing the shadowy web of business, politics, and espionage that ensnared postwar Italy." -- The New Yorker "The first English-language history of the legendary Italian firm and a gripping account of its little-known race to develop the world's first dekstop computer ... Secrest is an engaging guide ... Riveting." --Julian Lucas, Harper's "Meryle Secrest is a master biographer ... a Cold War mystery replete with industrial history and espionage, international intrigue, early death, and the creation of the world's first desktop computer ... surprisingly relevant to the conversation we are having today about the nature of electronic machines and industrial development, art, and design ... a vital piece of almost lost industrial and engineering history." --Porchlight "Books to Watch" "A little-known slice of computer history in [Secrest's] fascinating account of the Italian typewriter company Olivetti, which created the first desktop computer ... a riveting look at an ambitious and inventive family deserving wider attention." -- Publishers Weekly
Copyright Date
2019
Target Audience
Trade
Lccn
2018-059556
Dewey Decimal
338.7
Dewey Edition
23
Item description from the seller
Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing.
eBay item number:226111018407
Postage and handling
Item location:
Lisbon, New Hampshire, United States
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Barbados, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Guadeloupe, Libya, Martinique, New Caledonia, Reunion, Russian Federation, Ukraine, Venezuela
| Postage and handling | To | Service | Delivery*See Delivery notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| US $4.87 (approx PHP 285.40) | United States | Economy Postage (USPS Media MailTM) | Estimated between Mon, 17 Jun and Sat, 22 Jun to 43230 |
| Handling time |
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| Will usually post within 3 business days of receiving cleared payment. |
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Sales Tax for an item #226111018407
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Thank you! Can’t wait to read this book. Seller did a great job with packaging too!