I just finished up “Stealing Speed” by Mat Oxley. It’s about the development of 2 stroke racing motorcycles in the '50s and '60s. It’s a story that I knew little about before reading the book. It ends up that a brilliant East German engineer figured out how to get incredible power from a 2 stroke (200+hp / liter, naturally aspirated!). The communists wanted to use technology to show their superiority. After some wins in international racing, the top communist rider defected to the West along with a briefcase of parts and drawings. The communists cancelled their racing program. The rider was hired by Suzuki.
There is so much to love about this book though: the human story of both the rider and engineer, the history of the Cold War, the story of innovation. It’s also really well written, although a tad short.
It’s currently out of print and insanely priced used, but one can get it for a reasonable $10 or so on Kindle.