Most important books?

[Warped9]

Already been mentioned: The Making Of Star Trek and Inside Star Trek as well as The Star Trek Sketchbook are the best. The Star Trek Compendium is also nice to have.

After that The World Of Star Trek and some of the "making of" the films books are okay for maybe picking up tidbits.

Although they are not behind-the-scenes books there are works that I think are important in other respects. Franz Joseph's Starfleet Technical Manual and Booklet Of General Plans are important works in that they really crytallized and fuelled fan fascination with treknology (even if a lot of the materiel later proved to be questionable in terms of authenticity and consistency with what was seen onscreen). Also equally good was the Star Fleet Medical Reference Manual and the Star Trek Concordance.

 

[Warped9]

I think Star Trek: Phase II - The Lost Series is also a decent book for reference.

 

[mb22]

I think Star Trek: Phase II - The Lost Series is also a decent book for reference.

Edward Gross' Trek: the Lost Years is less professional looking (with no pictures either), but I recall it has a few things not in the authorized book.

 

[trevanian]

I think Star Trek: Phase II - The Lost Series is also a decent book for reference.

Edward Gross' Trek: the Lost Years is less professional looking (with no pictures either), but I recall it has a few things not in the authorized book.

The Gross book is missing a key part of the p2 puzzle that the authorized book does have (that folks at the top already knew the series wasn't going ahead, even while the sets were getting rushed and the scripts getting written), but other than that the Gross is LOADED with great info. The stuff from Joe Jennings is really great.

 

[Delta Vega]

The only Star Trek book I have ever read was William Shatners Star Trek Memories and I found it very decent.

 

[Valin]

Koenig's memoir about the making of TMP, "Chekov's Enterprise" is also a very entertaining behind the scenes look.