I would start with Henry Winram Dickinson's A Short History of the Steam Engine. It is a classic. Published in 1939, it had perhaps the ideal perspective. Dickinson had the benefit of being at the end of the transition period when reciprocating engines were acknowledged to be obsolete for most purposes, and turbines were becoming standard. So, he had a lot assistance from engineers who were familiar with the development of both. It is very much a nuts-and-bolts history, targeted at people who like machines.