It not specifically about history, but I found it nice how it builds up concepts from first principles, e.g. "We had problem X, so we invented math concept Y to help with problem X, and then extended the idea concept Z that handles more general class of problems."
2. Mathematics 1001: Absolutely Everything That Matters About Mathematics in 1001 Bite-Sized Explanations Hardcover by Richard Elwes, 2010. (non free)
This one doesn't go into any details on any topics, but it gives you a bird's eye overview of many topics and based on the "sampling" I did for the few concepts that I know, I found the bite-size explanations to be fairly good (i.e. mathematician explains things in plain language, and not science journalist simplistic analogy).
1. An Introduction to Mathematics by Alfred North Whitehead, 1911 available at http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/41568
It not specifically about history, but I found it nice how it builds up concepts from first principles, e.g. "We had problem X, so we invented math concept Y to help with problem X, and then extended the idea concept Z that handles more general class of problems."
2. Mathematics 1001: Absolutely Everything That Matters About Mathematics in 1001 Bite-Sized Explanations Hardcover by Richard Elwes, 2010. (non free)
This one doesn't go into any details on any topics, but it gives you a bird's eye overview of many topics and based on the "sampling" I did for the few concepts that I know, I found the bite-size explanations to be fairly good (i.e. mathematician explains things in plain language, and not science journalist simplistic analogy).