# A History of Lisp

11 Hacker News commenters recommended A History of Lisp and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 1 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Readers recommend it as a readable intro to Lisp history, with personal memories of John McCarthy; critics say it is too short with too few references.

## Why people recommend it

- Attractive cover design and elegance (2 comments): "I would say that your choice of cover design as a whole denotes elegance and taste." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47052013)) "I do like the design of the book cover with the elegant white background." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47058534))
- Readers plan to buy or read it (3 comments): "I skimmed the index but… no Clojure? ... I'd love to read the book - definitely interesting." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47051400)) "Great book, I will definitely buy it, thanks for your work!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47052262)) "Great work. I've put it on my to read list for this year." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47058575))

## What people warn about

- Too short with too few references (4 comments): "Yes, the book doesn't do Lisp justice, it is too short." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47054760)) "It seems too short with too few references!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47052477)) "this book might be ok for a cross-section of Lisp history but I'd like to see something much more thorough" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47056633))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder](https://hackerapproved.com/p/soul-of-a-new-machine.md): 59 recommend
- [The Old New Thing by Raymond Chen](https://hackerapproved.com/p/old-new-thing.md): 31 recommend
- [Accidental Empires by Bob Cringely](https://hackerapproved.com/p/accidental-empires.md): 15 recommend
- [Turing's Cathedral by George Dyson](https://hackerapproved.com/p/turing-s-cathedral.md): 10 recommend
- [The Friendly Orange Glow by Brian Dear](https://hackerapproved.com/p/friendly-orange-glow.md): 7 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Technical+history+book+on+Lisp+%28Show+HN%29&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "A History of Lisp", https://hackerapproved.com/p/technical-history-book-on-lisp/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).