I can think of parts of books that do this. The Splendid and The Vile goes on a 1-2 chapter tangent about the very interesting use of radar during WW2 for targ

I can think of parts of books that do this. The Splendid and The Vile goes on a 1-2 chapter tangent about the very interesting use of radar during WW2 for targeting London and the many counter measures developed by the British. It seems that there must be great books out there about this. Similarly the book Cadillac Desert has a chapter about how the large Damns built in the Pacific Northwest had a massive surplus of electricity, which enabled the smelting(?) of aluminum in quantities so large that it allowed the allies to outproduce the Germans and win the air war because of it. Planes were being shot down at a similar rate.