Not the most academic book, but I loved The Devil in the White City. It's about the 1900 World Fair in Chicago and how it was planned and pulled off. It has all of the political and technical wrangling required to even get the fair to Chicago.

It's also about the first recorded serial killer in US history (I think the fist) who was operating at the same time. There's some pretty disturbing stuff, but it's all fascinating.