Chip War
Chip War by Chris Millerby Chris Miller
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 4 of 51 history books by recommenders
Readable history of the chip industry that helps explain semiconductor production and geopolitics. Critics say it contains a number of factual errors.
Readable history of the chip industry that helps explain semiconductor production and geopolitics. Critics say it contains a number of factual errors.
14 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 13
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 93%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 13 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 13 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Fascinating and readable history
“is a fascinating read if you're interested in the deeper history of all of this stuff”
Comment from 31 Oct 2026 in “French lawmakers approved a tax of €0.055 for every gigabyte of internet traffic” “a fascinating read into the history of Silicon Valley”
Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” “an excellent, very-readable book on the topic”
Comment from 28 Apr 2026 in “The World's Most Complex Machine” Relevant to chip industry and geopolitics
“Extremely good read to understand tomorrows' most relevant geopolitical conflict.”
Comment from 28 Oct 2026 in “US agency approves Amazon Leo’s $11.5B acquisition of Globalstar” “helps build knowledge for semiconductor industry orientation”
Comment from 18 Aug 2026 in “Memory prices climb 500% in 12 months, up to 10x the lowest ever tracked prices” “very relevant look into the production of computer chips”
Comment from 19 Feb 2026 in “Mark Zuckerberg overruled 18 wellbeing experts to keep beauty filters on Insta” Good history of Silicon Valley
“is a really good history of Silicon Valley and has a section on the Soviet chip industry”
Comment from 15 Apr 2026 in “A Communist Apple II and Fourteen Years of Not Knowing What You're Testing” “a fascinating read into the history of Silicon Valley”
Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” Detailed, dramatic account with numbers
“Chip wars by chris miller chronicles it and it is absolutely crazier than sci fi.”
Comment from 24 Feb 2026 in “ASML unveils EUV light source advance that could yield 50% more chips by 2030” “Chip Wars covers this in detail with numbers.”
Comment from 15 Apr 2026 in “A Communist Apple II and Fourteen Years of Not Knowing What You're Testing”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Contains factual errors
“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.”
Comment from 28 Apr 2026 in “The World's Most Complex Machine” “it has a lot of errors, which made it frustrating to read”
Comment from 28 Apr 2026 in “The World's Most Complex Machine”
Other history books people recommend
The four most recommended other history books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Dawn of Everythingby David Graeber and David Wengrow | 23 | 5 | 82% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Cadillac Desertby Marc Reisner | 18 | 0 | 100% | 11 | — | Approved |
| The Boxby Marc Levinson | 16 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Chip Warby Chris MillerThis page | 13 | 1 | 93% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Sapiensby Yuval Noah Harari | 13 | 9 | 59% | 8 | — | — |
What people said
12 of the 15 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“is a fascinating read if you're interested in the deeper history of all of this stuff”
“Extremely good read to understand tomorrows' most relevant geopolitical conflict.”
“a fascinating read into the history of Silicon Valley”
“helps build knowledge for semiconductor industry orientation”
“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.”
“it has a lot of errors, which made it frustrating to read”
“an excellent, very-readable book on the topic”
“Chip Wars covers this in detail with numbers.”
“is a really good history of Silicon Valley and has a section on the Soviet chip industry”
“Chip wars by chris miller chronicles it and it is absolutely crazier than sci fi.”
“very relevant look into the production of computer chips”
“"Chip War" is also pretty good and along the same style.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.