Palo Alto
Palo Alto by Malcolm Harrisby Malcolm Harris
Shares rank 18 of 51 history books by recommenders
Recommended as a deep history of Silicon Valley, covering its origins back to the 1800s, dotcom-era startup failures and Amazon's later success.
Recommended as a deep history of Silicon Valley, covering its origins back to the 1800s, dotcom-era startup failures and Amazon's later success.
5 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 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
Explains the history and origins of Silicon Valley
“Palo Alto by Malcom Harris goes even further back to the 1800s to explain the origin of Silicon Valley.”
Comment from 11 Sep 2026 in “Silicon Valley is transforming the military-industrial complex? (2024)” “a re-read about the history of Silicon Valley, highly recommended”
Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” Goes deep into early California history
“Palo Alto by Malcom Harris goes even further back to the 1800s to explain the origin of Silicon Valley.”
Comment from 11 Sep 2026 in “Silicon Valley is transforming the military-industrial complex? (2024)” “goes into surprising depth on the history of the California Genocide”
Comment from 4 Aug 2026 in “Amazonian civilization had estimated 3M people in 3% of forest area” Well written and worth rereading
“a re-read about the history of Silicon Valley, highly recommended”
Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” “it is incredibly well-done”
Comment from 2 Mar 2026 in “You Don't Have To”
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 |
| Sapiensby Yuval Noah Harari | 13 | 9 | 59% | 8 | — | — |
| Palo Altoby Malcolm HarrisThis page | 5 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
All 5 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“a re-read about the history of Silicon Valley, highly recommended”
“Palo Alto by Malcom Harris goes even further back to the 1800s to explain the origin of Silicon Valley.”
“goes into surprising depth on the history of the California Genocide”
“Malcolm Harris' Palo Alto explained the failures of many dotcom startups and Amazon's later success in the field”
“it is incredibly well-done”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.