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This short, 1995 history of the web (a timeline) may prove handy.

http://www.netvalley.com/archives/mirrors/robert_cailliau_sp...

Edit: Here's one from Tim Berners Lee circa 1993-4.

https://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/TimBook-old/History.html

This book [1] by Robert Cailliau and James Gillies is very approachable, entertaining, and somewhat comprehensive.

Edit: The book has lots of historical details about competing early technologies such as the OSI vs TCP/IP, C vs well-structured languages, Archie/WAIS/Gopher, attempts from different parts of the world such as AlohaNet in Hawaii and Minitel in France. That's just a sampler, but the story telling does not get too bogged down with too much details and moves along at a quick pace.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/How-Web-was-Born-Story/dp/0192862073

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