Commodore: The Final Years book is the final book about the Amiga story written by Brian Bagnal, Author of “Commodore: a Company on the Edge” and “Commodore: The Amiga Years”, two books so important they cleared out a whole wing of the Smithsonian Institution just to keep copies on hand for visitors. Okay, maybe not but the first did win the 2011 Axiom Business Book Awards bronze medal for corporate history.
The previous book left off with the dramatic firing of Commodore’s president and CEO, Thomas Rattigan, who successfully steered the company out of several years of losses. Commodore: The Final Years rejoins the company as it is about to launch the highly successful Amiga 500 and Amiga 2000 computers. Follow Commodore through its golden years, starting in 1987 as the Amiga line finally achieves commercial success. Although Commodore had the lead with computer graphics going into this period, IBM and Apple began catching up as Commodore’s engineers struggled to advance the Amiga chipset technology.
The Book
This book will be similar in appearance and size to the previous two books in this trilogy, Commodore: A Company on the Edge and Commodore: The Amiga Years. The big difference between this Kickstarter and the previous one is that the book is mostly written and mainly requires editing and polishing to make it publication ready. I have been working on that throughout the first part of this year, with eight chapters (out of perhaps 40) currently polished and being edited by reviewers. I will continue working on the book throughout the duration of this month-long Kickstarter. If the schedule proceeds similar to The Amiga Years, expect The Final Years to be released and in your hands by the end of this year.
As with the previous two books in this series, the new book will be 500-600 pages long and 6 by 9 inches. The hardcover will be covered by a glossy 4-color dust jacket with 3.5 inch flaps. Interior is black and white ink on 50 lb. white paper, sent to a local printer and printed on a high quality press. The content includes two period photographs per chapter culled from the hundreds of photographs provided by Commodore insiders. A full index is provided so you can revisit your favorite subject at a moment’s glance.