Aircraft Carriers of the World, 1914 to Present, An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Published 1984 by Arms and Armor Press, Lionel Levanthal Limited. 284 pages plus bibliography and index. Heaps o' photos and line drawings.
A second edition has come out more recently, but a cursory look suggested it didn't change much of the pre-1984 stuff. So I didn't buy it; there's not much I need to know about post-'84 CVs.
This is my "Holy Bible" of aircraft carriers. I refer to it constantly.
The book includes 22 pages on the evolution of carriers, touching briefly on things like flight deck design, catapults, hangers, and so on. There's then about 14 pages on carrier roles, which includes discussing armaments and air wings. This is fairly basic by necessity, but I think all the important stuff gets mentioned.
The meat of the book, however, is the listing of carriers. Every carrier to see service by 1984 has an entry; a number of classes that did not make it into service - the French Joffres, for example - are included. It's mostly basic stuff - the stats, some design notes, and service history, usually accompanied by one or more illustrations. But, like I said - every carrier is there. This is particularly helpful if you're looking for something not American, British, or Japanese.
I find the book particularly valuable as a drawing aid; the listings often discuss hanger and elevator dimensions, which help me plan aircraft storage on my own designs. The line drawings and photos are numerous enough that I can compare different armament or island layouts, see where ship's boats or gun directors are placed, and so on.
In some cases, entries will also include little gems like ordnance loads, elevator performance, air group bunkerage, etc. This is also good stuff to have handy.
Can't tell you the cost - my father bought this book twenty years ago, and I inherited it later on. But it's probably worth checking out if you're interested in going further than a springstyle design.