# Palo Alto by Malcolm Harris

5 Hacker News commenters recommended Palo Alto by Malcolm Harris and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a deep history of Silicon Valley, covering its origins back to the 1800s, dotcom-era startup failures and Amazon's later success.

## Why people recommend it

- Explains the history and origins of Silicon Valley (2 comments): "Palo Alto by Malcom Harris goes even further back to the 1800s to explain the origin of Silicon Valley." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49655803)) "a re-read about the history of Silicon Valley, highly recommended" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49900454))
- Goes deep into early California history (2 comments): "Palo Alto by Malcom Harris goes even further back to the 1800s to explain the origin of Silicon Valley." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49655803)) "goes into surprising depth on the history of the California Genocide" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49163717))
- Well written and worth rereading (2 comments): "a re-read about the history of Silicon Valley, highly recommended" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49900454)) "it is incredibly well-done" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47214094))

## 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
- [Chip War by Chris Miller](https://hackerapproved.com/p/chip-war.md): 13 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316592013?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780316592017) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Palo Alto by Malcolm Harris", https://hackerapproved.com/p/palo-alto/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).