"Escape from earth: A secret history of the space rocket" by F Macdonald. Well written but focussed mostly on the people and politics of American rocketry after

"Escape from earth: A secret history of the space rocket" by F Macdonald. Well written but focussed mostly on the people and politics of American rocketry after WWII (including the mad occult antics of Jack Parsons). I would have prefered something that focussed more on the tech.