In his in-depth portrait of Intel, the first history/expose of the company, former Financial Times columnist Tim Jackson reveals that Intel's corporate culture is determinedly secretive and authoritarian, and the company retains its own force of private investigators to prevent its employees from going astray. Intel routinely uses the threat of lawsuits against workers and rivals.

At the center of this story is Andy Grove, Intel's high-profile CEO and chairman, once a penniless immigrant who waited tables to put himself through college. It is Grove who has made the unpopular decisions which have kept Intel at the top of the chip market. Exhaustively researched from court records, unpublished documents, and interviews with Intel's competitors, partners, and past and present employees, Jackson traces the company's spectacular failures and successes, as well as the powerful human struggles that have made Intel one of the most competitive players in a high-stakes game.