How Not to Network a Nation - (Information Policy) by Benjamin Peters (Paperback)

The book "How Not to Network a Nation" is an in-depth examination of the Soviet Union's attempts to build a national computer network, which failed despite top-level scientists and patriotic incentives.

The author argues that the American ARPANET succeeded due to well-managed state subsidies and collaborative research environments, while the Soviet network projects stumbled because of unregulated competition among self-interested institutions, bureaucrats, and others.

The book focuses on the final and most ambitious project, the All-State Automated System of Management (OGAS), and its principal promoter, Viktor M.

Glushkov.

The author describes the rise and fall of OGAS, including its theoretical and practical reach, bureaucratic obstacles, and institutional stalemate that killed it.

The book also considers the implications of the Soviet experience for today's networked world.

This is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of the internet, comparative systems, or the history of the Soviet Union.