It's definitely a good idea to have prior general knowledge of database internals before reading an "internals" book.
I'm not sure if it's out of date, but my favorite book on the topic was "Database System Implementation" by Garcia-Molina et al. I found it to be super-readable.
What I like about the "internals" book is you get to see a real, specific database up close, warts and all. It gives you a different perspective from an overview book like the one mentioned above.
It's definitely a good idea to have prior general knowledge of database internals before reading an "internals" book.
I'm not sure if it's out of date, but my favorite book on the topic was "Database System Implementation" by Garcia-Molina et al. I found it to be super-readable.
What I like about the "internals" book is you get to see a real, specific database up close, warts and all. It gives you a different perspective from an overview book like the one mentioned above.