Where Did Our Love Go?: The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound

Nelson George's Where Did Our Love Go? remains one of the best historical accounts of Motown Records, from its founding in 1959 to its creative peak in the 1960s and through its later decline in the 1970s and 1980s (when it became “just another record company”). George is a longtime music journalist (at Billboard, the Village Voice and elsewhere) and while his book isn’t exhaustively detailed, his writing is so intelligent and judicious, and with such well-chosen anecdotes, that it feels comprehensive as it describes the talent and cynicism of everyone involved.