# Chip War by Chris Miller

13 Hacker News commenters recommended Chip War by Chris Miller and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Readable history of the chip industry that helps explain semiconductor production and geopolitics. Critics say it contains a number of factual errors.

## Why people recommend it

- Fascinating and readable history (3 comments): "is a fascinating read if you're interested in the deeper history of all of this stuff" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50317664)) "a fascinating read into the history of Silicon Valley" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49899917)) "an excellent, very-readable book on the topic" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47932597))
- Relevant to chip industry and geopolitics (3 comments): "Extremely good read to understand tomorrows' most relevant geopolitical conflict." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50275200)) "helps build knowledge for semiconductor industry orientation" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49352960)) "very relevant look into the production of computer chips" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47072696))
- Good history of Silicon Valley (2 comments): "is a really good history of Silicon Valley and has a section on the Soviet chip industry" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47776101)) "a fascinating read into the history of Silicon Valley" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49899917))
- Detailed, dramatic account with numbers (2 comments): "Chip wars by chris miller chronicles it and it is absolutely crazier than sci fi." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47134480)) "Chip Wars covers this in detail with numbers." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47776711))

## What people warn about

- Contains factual errors (2 comments): "When a book gets many things wrong in an area that I know, it makes me worry about its accuracy in areas that I don't know." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47935187)) "it has a lot of errors, which made it frustrating to read" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47934696))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dawn-of-everything.md): 23 recommend
- [Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cadillac-desert.md): 18 recommend
- [The Box by Marc Levinson](https://hackerapproved.com/p/box.md): 16 recommend
- [Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari](https://hackerapproved.com/p/sapiens.md): 13 recommend
- [Showstopper! by G. Pascal Zachary](https://hackerapproved.com/p/showstopper.md): 12 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1982172010?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9781982172015) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Chip War by Chris Miller", https://hackerapproved.com/p/chip-war/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).