Bagnall's book, coupled with The Home Computer Wars by Tomzcyk make for an enjoyable weekend read.
With all the historical revisionism going around these days, it's books like these that hopefully will let the legacy of the early pioneers and innovators live on.
Just thought of something...would be cool if someone does an Apple-ish spoof ad with IBM PC, Mac(intosh) and Amiga models from 1985. Would be fun to script how the Amiga tops the monochrome PC and Mac with its 4,096, 4-channel sound and preemptive multitasking.
Now that's a competitive comparison more than a PC vs Mac ad of today could have.