Reddit mentions of Development of the Space Shuttle, 1972-1981 (History of the Space Shuttle, Volume 2)

> Development history of any particular rocket, covering every choice made from conception to completion, could literally be a whole book. Something I've seriously considered doing eventually, since to my knowledge nobody has ever compiled the complete development history and rationale of any modern rocket (or most historical ones) in a single place

T.A. Heppenheimer wrote two books on the Space Shuttle that might meet your criteria.

The first, 'The Space Shuttle Decision', covers the period 1965 -1972, and goes into great detail on why the STS system ended up as it did (the rationale). It is also handily available on-line:

https://space.nss.org/the-space-shuttle-decision-by-t-a-heppenheimer/

The second, 'Development of the Space Shuttle', covers the period from 1972 to the first flight in 1981, during which the Shuttle design produced in the first book was built. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1588340090/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i4

Both are well worth a read if you're interested in the Shuttle.

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Your question leads to another: I wonder whether SpaceX have an active historian(s), to grab data and hardware that might be of interest in the future? I somehow doubt it, and that's a shame given their potential to change worlds.