For three hours, Elias didn't look up. He was no longer in the library. He was inside the combustor. He could see the 'swirl cups' stabilizing the flame, a tornado of fire contained within a metal can. He read about the "film cooling" of turbine blades—how the engine sweated air to keep from melting. The book stripped away the romance of flight and revealed the brutal physics of survival.
For further study, you can find the MIT Course Materials that often reference this textbook, or check the MIT Press Page for the latest edition details. Aircraft Engines and Gas Turbines - MIT Press
Here is the downloadable link to get "Aircraft Engines and Gas Turbines" by Jack L. Kerrebrock
Some important concepts to grasp when studying this book include:
Establishes the thermodynamic foundations and theoretical limits of performance.
Jack L. Kerrebrock's Aircraft Engines and Gas Turbines is a foundational text in aerospace engineering that treats the aircraft engine as a complete, integrated system rather than just a collection of parts. Amazon.com Essay: The Systems-Level Approach to Aerospace Propulsion Introduction