I cannot more highly recommend this book. Highly informative and interesting at the same time. Authored by Phillip Van Munching, from the famous Van Munching clan(importers of Heineken), Phillip adds industry insight and combines it with a humorous historical perspective to give a thoroughly detailed history of Beer in the US.
Copies of this book run fairly cheap on amazon, and out of all the books that claim to be about beer, this is the only one with consistently high reviews.

This book makes a great stocking stuffer for friends and fellow homebrewers.

http://www.amazon.com/Beer-Blast-Brewing-Industrys-Bizarre/dp/0812930355
check it out,