Man, at this point I think I've read every book worth reading on the band.
Van Halen Rising by Greg Renoff -- covers the history of the band from the very beginnings up until VH1.
Runnin' with the Devil: A Backstage Pass to the Wild Times, Loud Rock, and the Down and Dirty Truth Behind the Making of Van Halen by Noel Monk
Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer's Life in Music by Greg Renoff
Eruption: Conversations with Eddie Van Halen Brad Tolinski and Chris GIll
Crazy from the Heat by David Lee Roth
Red (Enhanced Edition): My Uncensored Life in Rock by Sammy Hagar
I am Ozzy by Ozzy Osbourne. Yeah, it's mostly about Ozzy, but he does talk about VH a bit, and shit, it's an awesome book; you should read it. Seriously, it's one fo the most entertaining books I've ever read. And I read a lot.
When you've been as obsessed with a band for as long as I have, read this many books about them, you get a really well-rounded view of everyone.
The Breakup
Most interesting thing to me is that everyone blames someone else for the breakup of the band.
Dave blames Ed.
Ed blames Dave.
Sammy... sidesteps the issue (which gets interesting given what Ted says).
Noel Monk blames himself
Ted Templeman... blames Sammy.
Now, get this. Ted loves Sammy. He says he had more fun producing VOA than he did with any other album. He and Donn Landee were talking about putting Sammy in place of Dave right from the get-go because DLR clearly couldn't sing. (After a couple of weeks of talking to DLR and working with him, Ted realized that only DLR could be the frontman for VH -- a position that led him to refuse to produce 5150 and OU812.)
But he saw the VH split as being no different from any other intra-band argument he'd seen ... until Sammy got involved. "What Sammy did isn't much different than the guy who puts the moves on a wife who has recently separated from her husband." After that, both sides dug in.
Personally? I blame Ed's addiction more than anything else.
David Lee Roth
A legitimate genius and an egotistical asshole, too. Nearly everyone, even Sammy, says that Van Halen doesn't become Van Halen without David Lee Roth's influence. Everyone! The lone exception is Ed. Ed was jealous, and felt he had done most of the work (true!) and DLR got more credit than he deserved (false). Market placement matters more than hard work. DLR is the guy who dragged the VH boys out of the doldrums of 1970's Heavy Metal, threw in his 1940s Dance Hall influences, and made it something better than it could've been.
Also notable: Of all the books above, every biography/autobiography/memoir was written with someone else's help except for Dave's. Dave wrote that fucker himself. To some extent, it shows; it's clearly not the work of a professional writer, and not nearly as well-done as e.g. I am Ozzy. But it's worth it for being written by the man himself.
Sammy Hagar
On the one hand, this is the guy I'd most like to hang out with and have a beer tequila with. Fun to be around, amazing singer, mediocre lyricist. But jeez, watch your back around this guy. His version of events clashes with everyone else's and with basic facts (i.e., he's lying). Not to mention Ted's comment above.
Ed
Every bit the genius the most rabid fans make him out to be, and a complete sweetheart as well. If he hadn't drunk a single drop of alcohol, so many problems would've been avoided -- and we'd have a lot more of his music to enjoy.
Mike
The one guy nobody had anything bad to say about. Nobody had much to say about him at all, really. Ted said it best: Mike complained that Ted never talked to him when recording, but Ted said he never needed to. Mike got his vocals nailed on the first take (!), and knew exactly what he needed to do on the bass within the context of the band, in terms of what he played and how he played it. He was perfect.
Alex
The interesting thing to me is how little is said about Alex. Even less than about Mike. And yet you feel, whenever something happened "within the Van Halen camp," Alex's guiding hand behind it. Noel Monk's description of Alex's functional alcoholism is somewhat chilling.
1984
The album that broke the band. Noel knew Van Halen would make a masterpiece if they had more time to make it -- but also realized that giving them that extra time was what allowed their problems to fester. Ted was upset that, by doing it in a backyard studio, Ed's drinking was able to go unchecked (you behave better when on the clock in a pro studio, with other bands around waiting for their scheduled time, when you have to drive home afterwards). And Ed was upset that Ted didn't want him playing keyboards, when he wanted to expand in that direction.
Anyhow. I now officially know too much about Van Halen.