Devil in the Stack

Much of his absorbing book asks serious questions about the direction in which the computer industry and tech giants such as Google and Meta are taking us * Mail on Sunday *Dense, prickly and rewarding…Andrew Smith, who has written absorbingly about astronauts and the dotcom bubble here explores the “haunting alien logic” of computer code * TLS *A humane, nuanced, humorous, insightful work and a much-needed call for greater due diligence around some of the most impactful innovations in human history * Booklist (starred review) *A searing philosophical take on the ravages of the digital age, this is a must-read * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *An engaging plunge into the world of code and its transformative implications * Kirkus Reviews *A fascinating journey into the world of computer code, its history, the people who create it, some of its current controversies, and its implications for the future of society … Anyone who’s curious about the why and how of what makes computers do what they do will find Devil in the Stack a fertile introduction * Shelf Awareness *Smith is an ideal narrator: sharp-eyed yet increasingly affectionate about his subjects; expert enough to dissect Apollo minutiae clearly but not so obsessed as to leave a general reader trailing in the jetwash * Financial Times on MOONDUST *A brilliant exploration of madness and genius in the early days of the web. Fascinatingly weird … terrific * Guardian on TOTALLY WIRED *A rich mix of cultural history, reportage and personal reflection * Evening Standard on MOONDUST *Highly entertaining … [Smith’s] superb book is a fitting tribute to a unique band of 20th-century heroes * GQ on MOONDUST *

Andrew Smith has worked as a critic and feature writer for the Sunday Times, the Guardian, the Observer and The Face, and has penned documentaries for the BBC. He is the author of the internationally bestselling book Moondust, about the nine remaining men who walked on the moon between 1969 and 1972, and Totally Wired. He was raised in the UK and currently lives in California.