I would recommend the book "Inside the Machine" by Jon Stokes. I'm a programmer so not going in with fresh eyes necessarily, but it definitely felt like it bega

I would recommend the book "Inside the Machine" by Jon Stokes. I'm a programmer so not going in with fresh eyes necessarily, but it definitely felt like it began at the start and the author was a tech journalist for Ars Technica (with a Computer Systems background) - I think it does a really good job. It also happens to be one of my favorite books, especially if you're interested in older hardware.