Paul includes a brief history of recording and stereo development in his latest book. I found a really good way of learning the history of high fidelity and stereo by reading old copies of High Fidelity, Audio, Hi Fi Stereo Review, and Stereophile at this site:
https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/HiFI-Stereo-Review.htm
There are articles on the fundamental aspects of our hobby and interviews with the great musicians in the 1950s.
I especially like reading the original reviews of the great recordings such as RCA Living Stereo.