Here's a rare, all-access pass to see how Google operates. Steven Levy takes his readers inside Google HQ in Mountain View, shedding light on the company's unique culture and how it makes decisions. We also come along for Google's troubled ride in China, where the company's "Do No Evil" mantra was severely tested when its employees found themselves censoring search results to appease the government.

Levy shows how Google's 3 head honchos--Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt--work together and sometimes bump heads, and he does an excellent job describing how the company's "moon shot" attempt to scan every book ever written ran into such fierce resistance from the publishing industry.

Levy also dissects how the search giant now finds itself "chasing taillights" by initially dismissing social media and Facebook's ascent. I found myself skimming some of the wonkier sections detailing how Google's algorithms for advertisements work, but overall this is a terrific book and a must-read for anyone who cares about Silicon Valley, its people and products.