The complete beginner should start with Harris & Harris "Digital Design and Computer Architecture" (David Harris is one of "CMOS VLSI Design" authors), it provides a gentle introduction into the underlying physics but focuses more on the logic of the whole endeavor, i.e. how to get from transistors to CPUs.
Looks like there's a 2nd ed (mips based?) and an "arm edition" (more recent?) of the same title by the same authors. Online reviews are sparse, wonder which is better now?
