I too must read more about our origins, I'm just a guy who got hooked on its external beauty and adolescent memories that I bought back to life. I would also like to talk the talk as some members here excel at.
Dakazman
Living the Lotus Life. It's not just a hobby....it becomes an obsession....
Lots of books to choose from. Good start is the Ian Smith and Doug Nye twin books, Crombac's treatment of Colin (though a bit of a light treatment at the end re the deLorean scandal and some of his more questionable decisions...the book "Colin Chapman, Wayward Genius" seems to fill in some of the blanks...of course the Brooklands reprint books are useful for as-it-happened review, the Newton/Psulkowski (yes, Ray co-authored a book) Elan, Cortina, and Europa is a decent light treatment.
I could go on. But...have kind of collected (and just found a 1st edition Lotus Book signed by William Taylor while I was cleaning out the basement in preparation of slimming down the homestead) more than a few along the 40+ years of ownership...