I recommend "Skunk Works" by Ben Rich and Leo Janos, very readable (ie, not too tech for me!) and covers development of U-2, SR-71 and F-117.
Good
PPRuNe thread on Concorde which also touches on SR-71 intakes and unstarts. Via a very quick skim, I got the impression that Concorde's development team greatly admired the SR-71.
I guess avoiding spilled champagne wasn't an issue Kelly Johnson had to consider for those aboard the SR-71.
A little over four years from clean sheet to airborne by a relatively small team from Lockheed and the P&W guys, followed by an almost unbroken 37 years of flying by A-12s and SR-71s is an incredible achievement. It seems military politics grounded it, not any airworthiness or age issues.