Books covering the history of Apple Computer, Inc.

by Alan Deutschman

October 2000; Broadway Books; ISBN: 076790432X; 304 pages

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"...offers an interesting and enlightening look at the crucial period from Jobs's unceremonious Apple exit through his triumphant return."

From Amazon: Based on interviews with scores of people--rivals, colleagues, friends--who have worked with Jobs over the years, The Second Coming of Steve Jobs gets under the hood of this extraordinarily complex man: how and why he almost gave up on his career; the details of his negotiations with Disney's Jeffrey Katzenberg and Michael Eisner, and of the culture clash between Silicon Valley and Hollywood; his methods of leadership, management, creativity, and innovation; his friendship and rivalry with Bill Gates--and much more. In an unsentimental and powerful voice, Deutschman reveals a man who suffered his midlife crisis at thirty, compressing it into just three months; struggled between self-imposed exile and the allure of public life; and became the baby boomer icon who was constantly blurring the lines between businessman, rock star, and beatnik.

by Ann Gaines

November 2000; Mitchell Lane Pub; ISBN: 1584150262; 32 pages

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For ages 9-12.

by Ann Brashares

March 2001; Twenty First Century Books; ISBN: 076131959X; 80 pages

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For ages 9-12.

by John Riddle and Jim Whiting

November 2001; Mitchell Lane Publishers; ISBN: 1584151099; 48 pages

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For ages 9-12.

by Virginia Brackett

March 2003; Enslow Publishers, Inc.; ISBN: 0766019705; 48 pages

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For ages 9-12.

by Owen Linzmayer

January 2004; No Starch Press; ISBN: 1593270100; 350 pages

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Visit the book web site to purchase an autographed copy direct from the author.

From the publisher: Apple Confidential 2.0 chronicles the best and the worst of Apple Computer's remarkable story. Follow the company as it grows from upstart media darling to industry-leading powerhouse, falters under a series of disastrous executive decisions, takes its licks as technology whipping boy, and rebounds to profitability through innovation. This substantially revised second edition contains over 60 pages of new material, including several completely new or greatly revised chapters, as well as hundreds of fresh photos, illustrations, quotes, and timelines.

by Andy Hertzfeld

December 2004; O'Reilly; ISBN: 0596007191; 320 pages

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Many of the stories in this book can be found on Andy Hertzfeld's Folklore website.

From Amazon: There was a time, not too long ago, when the typewriter and notebook ruled, and the computer as an everyday tool was simply a vision. Revolution in the Valley traces this vision back to its earliest roots: the hallways and backrooms of Apple, where the groundbreaking Macintosh computer was born. The book traces the development of the Macintosh, from its inception as an underground skunkworks project in 1979 to its triumphant introduction in 1984 and beyond. The stories in Revolution in the Valley come on extremely good authority. That's because author Andy Hertzfeld was a core member of the team that built the Macintosh system software, and a key creator of the Mac's radically new user interface software. One of the chosen few who worked with the mercurial Steve Jobs, you might call him the ultimate insider. When Revolution in the Valley begins, Hertzfeld is working on Apple's first attempt at a low-cost, consumer-oriented computer: the Apple II. He sees that Steve Jobs is luring some of the company's most brilliant innovators to work on a tiny research effort the Macintosh. Hertzfeld manages to make his way onto the Macintosh research team, and the rest is history. Through lavish illustrations, period photos (many never before published), and Hertzfeld's vivid first-hand accounts, Revolution in the Valley reveals what it was like to be there at the birth of the personal computer revolution.

by Jeffrey S. Young and William L. Simon

May 2005; Wiley; ISBN: 0471720836; 368 pages

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Covers Jobs' successful return to Apple; his delivery of the iMac and iPod; his animation studio Pixar; and his clash with Disney's Michael Eisner. Author Jeffrey Young also wrote the unauthorized 1987 biography Steve Jobs: The Journey is the Reward.

by Jeffrey L. Cruikshank

December 2005; McGraw-Hill; ISBN: 978-0072262339; 224 pages

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A history of Apple's management and marketing, including OS X and the iPod.

by Steve Wozniak and Gina Smith

November 2006; Norton; ISBN: 0393061434; 288 pages

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Reading Steve's autobiography is like listening to a fireside chat. He has some great stories, and passion to the brim.

by Steven Levy

September 2007; Simon & Schuster; ISBN: 9780743285230; 304 pages

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From BN: On October 23, 2001, Apple Computer, a company known for its chic, cutting-edge technology -- if not necessarily for its dominant market share -- launched a product with an enticing promise: You can carry an entire music collection in your pocket. It was called the iPod. What happened next exceeded the company's wildest dreams. Over 50 million people have inserted the device's distinctive white buds into their ears, and the iPod has become a global obsession. The Perfect Thing is the definitive account, from design and marketing to startling impact, of Apple's iPod, the signature device of our young century.

by Leander Kahney

April 2008; Portfolio Hardcover; ISBN: 978-1591841982; 304 pages

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From Amazon: Jobs is an elitist who thinks most people are bozos—but he makes gadgets so easy to use, a bozo can master them. He’s a mercurial obsessive with a filthy temper—but he forges deep partnerships with creative geniuses like Steve Wozniak, Jonathan Ive, and John Lasseter. He’s a Buddhist and anti-materialist—but he produces mass-market products in Asian factories, and he promotes them with absolute mastery of the crassest medium, advertising. In short, Jobs has embraced the traits that some consider flaws—narcissism, perfectionism, the desire for total control—to lead Apple and Pixar to triumph against steep odds. And in the process, he has become a self-made billionaire. The result is this unique book about Steve Jobs that is part biography and part leadership guide, and impossible to put down.  It gives you a peek inside Steve’s brain, and might even teach you something about how to build your own culture of innovation. 

by Jessica Livingston

September 2008; Apress; ISBN: 978-1430210788; 488 pages

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Chapter 3 features a 30-page interview with Steve Wozniak.

From Amazon: a collection of interviews with founders of famous technology companies about what happened in the very earliest days. These people are celebrities now. What was it like when they were just a couple friends with an idea? Founders like Steve Wozniak (Apple), Caterina Fake (Flickr), Mitch Kapor (Lotus), Max Levchin (PayPal), and Sabeer Bhatia (Hotmail) tell you in their own words about their surprising and often very funny discoveries as they learned how to build a company. Where did they get the ideas that made them rich? How did they convince investors to back them? What went wrong, and how did they recover?  

by Michael Moritz

October 2009; Overlook; ISBN: 978-1590202814; 352 pages

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This is an updated edition of The Little Kingdom (1984). The changes include new first and last chapters. The book covers the Apple's history up to 1984 and the release of the Macintosh.

by Ron Wayne

September 2011; 512k Entertainment; 191 pages

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Ron Wayne was the third, minority share partner with the two Steves when they founded Apple in 1976. He worked at Atari with Jobs, and while at Apple, designed the first company logo and worked on the Apple I manual. The book apparently doesn't contain all that much Apple history, but some is better than none, when one considers the source. Includes a foreward by Steve Wozniak.

by Walter Isaacson

November 2011; Simon & Schuster; ISBN: 978-1451648539; 448 pages

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Steve Jobs cooperated with Isaacson to give what is probably the only authorized biography.