Serious introduction to the chemistry of explosives recommendation
To be clear, that is absolutely not what I'm after. I want an academically oriented introduction, not some "recipe" book.


I'm glad to read that!

I'm aware of Chemistry of Energetic Materials (Eds. George A. Olah and David R. Squire, Academic Press, 1991) which seem to cover


  
  The Structural Investigation of Energetic Materials. 
  Studies of Initial Dissociation Processes in 1,3,3-Trinitroazetidine By Photofragmentation Translational Spectroscopy. 
  Studies of Molecular Dissociation By Means of Ultrafast Absorption and Emission Spectroscopy and Picosecond X-Ray Diffraction. 
  Computer-Aided Design of Monopropellants. 
  Polycyclic Amine Chemistry. 
  Metallacarboranes of the Lanthanides and Alkaline-Earth Metals: Potential High-Energy Fuel Additives. 
  Methods for Preparing Energetic Nitro-Compounds: Nitration with Superacidic Systems, Nitronium Salts, And Related Complexes.
  


On a side note, if you are interested in current research on high-energy materials free of nitro groups, have a look at the work of Thomas M. Klapötke.