A review by slwrites
If Then: How the Simulmatics Corporation Invented the Future by Jill Lepore

4.0

A solid 4.5 from Lepore. I've loved Lepore's work since reading her early American histories - her meticulous attention to detail within a clear narrative structure and her focus on history, language, and knowledge as subjects within her historical writing is always superb. This text takes a hard look at the American Cold War beginnings of what would grow into the big data, techno-intellectual revolution we often see as a purely 21st century invention. It's a tale of a forgotten history from a not-so-distant past we would all do well to remember.