This Is Server Country

AI, Power, and the Remaking of Rural America

By: Michael Bommarito

Write A Review

Paperback | 23 January 2026

At a Glance

Format
Paperback

Dimensions(cm)
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.13

Paperback

$48.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $12.19 with

Ships in 10 to 15 business days

A town spoke. Something larger answered.

In September 2025, a township board in rural Michigan voted to reject a data center. Two days later, the developer sued. Within three weeks, the project was approved anyway.

THIS IS SERVER COUNTRY tells - through vivid narrative and clear-eyed analysis - the story of America's largest private infrastructure buildout. More than a trillion dollars. Over six hundred projects. A power grid racing to keep up.

This book follows the people caught in the buildout, explains how the machines actually work, and asks why farmland instead of shuttered factories. It traces the current backward from silicon in Taiwan to sandy loam in Saline - and reveals who builds, who benefits, and who pays, where local zoning meets great-power politics.

What you'll learn:

How AI inference works and why it demands unprecedented compute power
Why data centers choose farmland, not cities-the grid topology that determines where projects land
The trillion-dollar capital wave: hyperscalers, private equity, and sovereign wealth
State incentive wars and the communities caught between economic development and local control
The nuclear renaissance, natural gas reality, and what sustainability promises actually mean
Export controls, chip wars, and the geopolitics reshaping global AI infrastructure

The railroads opened the West. The interstates created the suburbs. The AI boom follows the same pattern, at faster speed - but to what end, we know not yet.

Who this book is for: Anyone who wants to understand where AI actually lives - the buildings, the power, the politics. Technologists, policymakers, investors, journalists, and citizens in communities facing these decisions.

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

Orders over $79.00 qualify for free shipping.

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.