I just bought and read Mike Valla's book "Founding Flies".
This is a great book ! It covers most of the master tiers from Mary Orvis Marbury through to Andre Puyans. It has a great deal of interesting info on all the greats in fly tying and has photos of their signature patterns.
There is a great deal of info on each of the Greats and has some info that is not common knowledge. For example, when discussing Griffith, he discloses that Bob Summers, a good friend and fishing buddy of Griffith, actually came up with the Griffith's Gnat. He decided to name it The Griffith's Gnat in honor of his fishing buddy.
Anyway, I would say it is one of the most comprehensive books on the biggest influences of American tiers.