Just fifteen years ago, computer nerds were seen as marginal weirdos, outsiders whose world would never resonate with the mainstream. That was before one pioneering work documented the underground computer revolution that was about to change our world forever.

With groundbreaking profiles of Bill Gates, Steve Wozniak, and MIT's Tech Model Railroad Club, Steven Levy's Hackers brilliantly captured a seminal moment when the risk-takers and explorers were poised to conquer twentieth-century America's last great frontier. In the Internet age, the hacker ethic—first espoused here—is alive and well.