re: David Beaty, read his 'The wind off the sea' when I was 17 and trying to join the RAF as a pilot. I found it quite thought provoking and an influence both during my flying training - left/right conflicts, and later when conducting training myself - conscience and application of human factors (although in the '70s the term was unknown....to me at least!)
Re-read it a few months ago and found it still relevant.