4.0 out of 5 stars
Fact-Filled Coverage Of Five Cases, July 26, 2010
[Note: This was published by Sybex and my copy has ISBN 0-89588-225-6, although Amazon does not show it.]
This book covers five cases of crime in Silicon Valley in true-crime, police procedural style. The writing seemed a bit stuffy or official sometimes, although some of this comes from reliance on actual police reports and similar sources. However, the facts are presented clearly, with numerous pictures of evidence in the cases. The five chapters each begin by listing the dramatis personae, much like some fictional mysteries, then cover the case, and wind up with a Dragnet-style discussion of the outcome. The five cases are:
1. "The Polish Persuation" - True Soviet-bloc espionage on defense companies in Silicon Valley
2. "The Night Of MOS and Mayhem" - Stolen chips
3. "The Mask Marauder" - Stolen chip designs
4. "The Bruchhausen Connection" - transhipment of embargoed high-tech equipment to Eastern Europe.
5. "The Tokyo Transgression" - Hitachi spying on IBM
There is also a conclusion section. Technically, everything in this book is history at this point (Z-80s, 2708s, Cray-1s, and so forth). But the crime stories have a life of their own.
Overall, I'll give this four stars...while it has faults, I have not seen a better collection. And besides, what other books about high-tech have Polish colonels spying, homicide, and characters named "One-eyed Jack"?
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