If you’re a Disney fan (like I am), I’d recommend The Vault of Walt book series by my good friend Jim Korkis. I’ve just finished Volume 2, but I’ve discovered Jim is way ahead of me — he’s up to Volume 5!
As a history nerd in general, I realized a long time ago that it takes a book from an insider to explain what really happened. Jim is such a person — he’s worked at Walt Disney World “on-stage” as both an actor and magician, and backstage as a teacher and coordinator. Over the years, he’s accumulated a wealth of knowledge about both the Walt Disney Company and Walt Disney & his family. As an accomplished storyteller, he’s written books and hundreds of Disney-related articles for more than three decades. As much as I’ve read, I’m still learning a lot I didn’t know, like why the renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright hated Disney’s animated feature Fantasia, and how Disney character floats got into the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, two of the revelations in this volume.
Jim’s latest book is Walt’s Words: Quotations of Walt Disney with Sources. But it’s going to be awhile before I get to that one.