1. No idea. I dont read books.
2. See 1. Everything in the Battletech universe is set in a specific timeframe. 3025 is "old school" Battletech, with the war between the Houses. 3050 is the invasion of the Clans. 3060 and onward is the destruction of Clan Smoke Jaguar and the fall of the Clans from Inner Sphere space.
3. Try a used bookstore, and if that fails, Amazon.com
I absolutely enjoy playing the tabletop game (as a Wolf or Wolf-in-Exile Clanner). Of course, my start into the Battletech universe was from playing MechWarrior 2 on the PC. MechWarrior 3 and 4 were just bastardizations, with the only thing canon was the plotlines and settings.
As for me, I cannot recall ever watching the cartoon, though I'm seriously tempted of trying to find it on the intarweb thingy.
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