hms_lists’s Comments (group member since Feb 04, 2011)

hms_lists’s comments from the History, Security & Military Lists group.

CHIEF OF ARMY’S READING LIST
Australian Army

Source:
http://www.army.gov.au/Our-future/DAR...
Has a few essays and comments on each book. Also has websites, publications and movies.


Bookshelf:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

CSAF Reading List 2012

http://www.af.mil/csafprofessionalrea...


“Airpower for Strategic Effect”

By Colin Gray

A strategic history of airpower which looks at, among other topics, the benefits of airpower in conflicts from World War I to Iraq and Afghanistan.


“Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption”

By Laura Hillenbrand

From the author of “Seabiscuit” comes the story of an Army Air Forces bomber who crashed into the Pacific Ocean in May 1943 and began the struggle of a lifetime as he made it onto a life raft in the middle of the open ocean.




“Start with Why”

By Simon Sinek

A look at what sets certain people and organizations apart in everything from innovation to influence to loyalty. Sinek looks at some of the most influential leaders to discover what makes them so successful.



“The Forever War”

By Dexter Filkins

A foreign correspondent’s look at America’s fight against Islamic fundamentalism and the human toll it has taken.



“Paradise Beneath Her Feet”

By Isobel Coleman

A look at how Muslim men and women in the Middle East are fighting for equal rights for women using a progressive view e of Islam.




“The Words We Live By: Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution”

By Linda Monk

An annotated guide to the Constitution that includes legal expertise, historical anecdotes and opposing interpretations.



“The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers”

By Richard McGregor

A look at the rise of China’s Communist Party, as well as how the East Asian country has grown into a global superpower over the past three decades.



“Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure”

By Tim Harford

The author argues that in today’s unpredictable world, challenges can’t just be met with easy solutions or the opinions of experts; instead, people must adapt to tackle the biggest issues of today — a method outlined by his book.



“Catch-22”

By Joseph Heller

A classic dark comedy set in World War II, “Catch-22” features a fictional Army Air Forces squadron dealing with the maddening bureaucracy of the military at war.


“Freedom Flyers: The Tuskegee Airmen of World War II”

By J. Todd Moye

Using more than 800 interviews recorded for the National Park Service’s Tuskegee Airmen Oral History Project, the author captures the history of the famed World War II airmen who overcame discrimination to earn their place in the history books.



“Physics of the Future”

By Michio Kaku

The author uses more than 300 interviews from the world’s top scientists to discuss what life will look like in 2100.



“A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War, and the Conquest of the American Continent”

By Robert Merry

A look at the 1845-1849 presidency of James K. Polk, who dedicated his political career and single term in office to American expansionism as exemplified by the concept of “Manifest Destiny.”



“The Hunters”

By James Salter

The story of Air Force Capt. Cleve Connell, a Korean War pilot who arrives on in the war zone with aspirations of becoming a fighter ace, and the struggle to achieve that dream.

The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916 - Sir Alistair Horne

The battle of Verdun lasted ten months. It was a battle in which at least 700,000 men fell, along a front of fifteen miles. Its aim was less to defeat the enemy than bleed him to death and a battleground whose once fertile terrain is even now a haunted wilderness. Alistair Horne's classic work, continuously in print for over fifty years, is a profoundly moving, sympathetic study of the battle and the men who fought there. It shows that Verdun is a key to understanding the First World War to the minds of those who waged it, the traditions that bound them and the world that gave them the opportunity.

Gallipoli - Alan McCrae Moorehead

When Turkey unexpectedly sided with Germany in World War I, Winston Churchill, as Sea Lord for the British, conceived a plan: smash through the Dardanelles, reopen the Straits to Russia, and immobilize the Turks. On the night of March 18, 1915, this plan nearly succeeded -- the Turks were virtually beaten. But poor communication left the Allies in the dark, allowing the Turks to prevail and the Allies to suffer a crushing defeat. A vivid chronicle of adventure, suspense, agony, and heroism, Gallipoli brings fully to life the tragic waste in human life, the physical horror, and the sheer heartbreaking folly of fighting for impossible objectives with inadequate means on unknown, unmapped terrain.

Galloping Ghost: The Extraordinary Life of Submarine Captain Eugene Fluckey - Carl Lavo

Eugene Fluckey was one of the great naval heroes of World War II. His exploits as captain of the submarine USS Barb revolutionized undersea warfare and laid the groundwork for the nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine fleet that today is the primary deterrent and capability of the United States against nuclear attack. He earned numerous presidential, congressional, and military honors, including the Medal of Honor and four Navy Crosses. In the war against Japan, Fluckey fired the first ballistic missiles from a submarine and sank more tonnage than any other U.S. submarine skipper.

Submarine Admiral: From Battlewagons to Ballistic Missiles - Ignatius Joseph "Pete" Galantin

In this memoir of his 41-year military career, from midshipman to four-star rank, mostly in the submarine service, Galantin provides an authoritative overview of the evolution of the sub and its role in the U.S. Navy. A distinguished combat veteran of WWII, he saw postwar service as head of the Navy Department's submarine branch; and, as director of the Navy's Special Projects Office, he had a leading role in developing the Polaris missile system for subs. Long involved in high-level planning and policy-making in the Pentagon, he gives a good account of how the Navy met the Soviet challenge at sea as well as the submarine's role in the post-Cold War era. Our nuclear subs, he argues, remain the chief deterrent to global strategic aggression.

Lemay: The Life and Wars of General Curtis Lemay - Warren Kozak

Kozak's biography of Curtis Lemay and his outstanding competence as a leader and organizer of strategic airpower in World War II and during the cold war is convincingly presented. Kozak suggests that LeMay was utterly dedicated to the mission of destroying his country's enemies and to the men under his command charged with carrying out that mission. This led to what can only be called a certain lack of the social graces and a good many of what might charitably be called misinterpretations of where LeMay's patriotism led him.

A Fiery Peace in a Cold War: Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon - Neil Sheehan

This is the intriguing history of the men who built America's ICBM program in the ‘50s and '60s. Gen. Bernard Schriever and his colorful band of military aides, civilian patrons, defense intellectuals and aerospace entrepreneurs are portrayed as a guerrilla insurgency fighting Pentagon red tape, and hostile Air Force brass. The book is a fascinating run-down of the engineering challenges posed by nuclear missiles, but the main action consists of bureaucratic intrigues, procurement innovations and epic briefings that catch the President's ear and open the funding spigots.

Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action - Simon Sinek

In studying the leaders who've had the greatest influence in the world, Simon Sinek discovered that they all think, act, and communicate in the exact same way -- and it's the complete opposite of what everyone else does. Sinek calls this powerful idea The Golden Circle, and it provides a framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be lead, and people can be inspired. And it all starts with WHY. Any organization can explain what it does; some can explain how they do it; but very few can clearly articulate why. Starting with WHY works in big business and small business, in the nonprofit world and in politics. Those who start with WHY never manipulate, they inspire. And the people who follow them don't do so because they have to; they follow because they want to.

Younger Next Year: Live Strong, Fit, an Sexy - Until You're 80 and Beyond. - Dr. Henry "Harry" Lodge, & Chris Crowley

Authors Crowley and Lodge provide no-nonsense advice to help both men and women become functionally younger every year. The books can show us how to turn back our biological clocks, how to put off 70% of the normal problems of aging (weakness, sore joints, bad balance) and eliminate 50% of serious illness and injury. The key to the program is found in Harry's Rules (seven rules all together) and they are based on the latest findings in cell physiology, evolutionary biology, anthropology, and experimental psychology. Both men and women can become functionally younger every year for the next five to ten years, and then continue to live with newfound vitality and pleasure deep into our 80s and beyond.

Younger Next Year for Women: Live Strong, Fit, an Sexy - Until You're 80 and Beyond. - Dr. Henry "Harry" Lodge, & Chris Crowley

Authors Crowley and Lodge provide no-nonsense advice to help both men and women become functionally younger every year. The books can show us how to turn back our biological clocks, how to put off 70% of the normal problems of aging (weakness, sore joints, bad balance) and eliminate 50% of serious illness and injury. The key to the program is found in Harry's Rules (seven rules all together) and they are based on the latest findings in cell physiology, evolutionary biology, anthropology, and experimental psychology. Both men and women can become functionally younger every year for the next five to ten years, and then continue to live with newfound vitality and pleasure deep into our 80s and beyond.

United States Strategic Command - Command's Professional Reading List
http://www.stratcom.mil/reading_list/



The Great American Gamble: Deterrence Theory and Practice from the Cold War to the 21st Century - Dr. Keith Payne

Dr. Keith Payne has painstakingly and skillfully developed a masterful analysis of American Cold War nuclear deterrence theory to practice with insightful critique and prescriptive considerations for the post-Cold War era. Keith utilizes a vast amount of previously classified information to facilitate the comprehension of high-level key deterrence decisions. A 'must read' for defense policy professionals, scholars, and concerned citizens. (review of the book by ADM Henry Chiles Jr., USN (ret.), former Commander in Chief, U.S. Strategic Command)

The Nuclear Express - Thomas C. Reed

This is a political history of nuclear weapons from the discovery of fission in 1938 to the nuclear train wreck that seems to loom in our future. It is an account of where those weapons came from, how the technology surprisingly and covertly spread, who is likely to acquire those weapons next and most importantly why.

The Making of the Atomic Bomb - Richard Rhodes

The breadth and scope of this gripping narrative is almost as impressive as the story itself. This Pulitzer Prize-winning work describes the theoretical origins of the bomb, the lab experiments, the building of the prototype, the test at Alamagordo, the training of the B-29 crews assigned to deliver the first two combat bombs and the missions themselves. Additionally, the author reveals the personalities and emotional dynamics among Niels Bohr, Leo Szilard, Enrico Fermi, Edward Teller, Ernest Lawrence, Robert Oppenheimer, General Leslie Groves, Colonel Paul Tibbets and others responsible for conceiving, engineering, testing and ultimately dropping the apocalyptic devices on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Dark Sun: Making of the Hydrogen Bomb - Richard Rhodes

An engrossing history of the scientific discoveries, political maneuverings, and cold-war espionage leading to the creation of mankind's most destructive weapon.
The book includes 94 archival photographs and a glossary with brief descriptions of the hundreds of people interviewed and discussed.

The Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age - Walter A. McDougall

"The definitive, surprising and highly readable history of the U.S. space program. Forget visionary rhetoric about humans' need to explore the next frontier: McDougall demonstrates how NASA's moon missions grew directly from Hitler's V-2 rocket project at Pennemunde and were all about the classic military necessity of controlling the high ground -- in this case the really high ground... [One of] the five best books I have read about the U.S. space program." (Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down)

Astropolitik: Classical Geopolitics in the Space Age - Dr. Everett C. Dolman

This book identifies and evaluates the relationship between outer-space geography and geographic position (astrogeography), and the evolution of current and future military space strategy.

Space Wars: The First Six Hours of World War III - Michael Coumatos

This book depicts how the first hours of World War III might play out in the year 2010. The authors take the reader inside U.S. Strategic Command, where top military commanders, space-company executives, and U.S. intelligence experts are conducting a DEADSATS II wargame, exploring how the loss of critical satellites could lead to nuclear war. The players don't know that the war they are gaming has already begun, miles above them in the lifeless, silent cold of space.

Inside Cyber Warfare: Mapping the Cyber Underworld - Jeffrey Carr

This book provides fascinating and disturbing details on how nations, groups, and individuals throughout the world are using the Internet as an attack platform to gain military, political, and economic advantages over their adversaries. Discusses how sophisticated hackers, working on behalf of states or organized crime, patiently play a high-stakes game targeting anyone, regardless of affiliation or nationality. (Amazon.com)

Fatal System Error: The Hunt for the New Crime Lords Who are Bringing Down the Internet - Joseph Menn

In this disquieting cyber thriller, Joseph Menn takes readers into the murky hacker underground, traveling the globe from San Francisco to Costa Rica and London to Russia. His guides are California surfer and computer whiz Barrett Lyon and a fearless British high-tech agent. Through these heroes, Menn shows the evolution of cyber-crime from small-time thieving to sophisticated, organized gangs, who began by attacking corporate websites but increasingly steal financial data from consumers and defense secrets from governments. Using unprecedented access to Mob businesses and Russian officials, the book reveals how top criminals earned protection from the Russian government.

How the Internet Works (8th Edition) - Preston Gralla

The Internet does many wondrous things, but an alarming number of them remain "black boxes" whose interior workings are a mystery. In How the Internet Works, Preston Gralla shows how information gets from here to there on the world's biggest computer network. With assistance from illustrators Sarah Ishidi, Mina Reimer, and Stephen Adams, Gralla presents a series of full-color spreads, each of which picks apart some aspect of Internet technology. You'll find explanations of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), Web browsers, electronic mail, Web search engines, multimedia, and more.

Biohazard - Ken Alibek

In this fast-paced memoir, Ken Alibek combines cutting-edge science with the narrative techniques of a thriller to describe some of the most awful weapons imaginable. The result will remind readers of The Hot Zone, Richard Preston's smart bestseller about the Ebola virus. That book focuses on the dangers of a freak accident; Biohazard shows how disease can become a deliberate tool of war. Alibek, once a top scientist in the Soviet Union's biological weapons program, describes putting anthrax on a warhead and targeting a city on the other side of the world. (Amazon)

Information Operations: Warfare and the Hard Reality of Soft Power - Lt. Cdr. Edwin L. Armistead, USN

The modern means of communication have turned the world into an information fishbowl and have helped transform international power politics. Information operations (IO) involve the use of modern technology to deliver critical information and influential content in an effort to shape perceptions, manage opinions, and control behavior. Contemporary IO differs from traditional psychological operations practiced by nation-states, because the availability of low-cost high technology permits nongovernmental organizations and rogue elements, such as terrorist groups, to deliver influential content of their own as well as facilitates damaging cyber-attacks on computer networks and infrastructure.

Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Future of International Nonproliferation Policy - Nathan E. Busch

This book pairs real-world case histories with discussions of the latest problems and risks affecting weapons of mass destruction and their spread. It is a collection of articles from experts in nonproliferation studies who examine special challenges and offer directions for policy and law making, making for an outstanding reference to any discussion of nuclear or military might.

Contemporary Nuclear Debates: Missile Defense, Arms Control, and Arms Races in the Twenty-First Century - Alexander T. J. Lennon ED

The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, in the hands of both states and terrorist networks, is considered by many to be the greatest threat to global security today. Contemporary Nuclear Debates discusses the key issues surrounding that threat. The book is divided into four parts that discuss the future of U.S. national missile defense, global perceptions of missile defense, and the current and future trends in arms control.

The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia - Peter Hopkirk

In a phrase coined by Captain Arthur Connolly of the East India Company before he was beheaded in Bokhara for spying in 1842, a "Great Game" was played between Tsarist Russia and Victorian England for supremacy in Central Asia. At stake was the security of India, key to the wealth of the British Empire. When play began early in the 19th century, the frontiers of the two imperial powers lay two thousand miles apart, across vast deserts and almost impassable mountain ranges; by the end, only 20 miles separated the two rivals.

Islam: A Short History - Karen Armstrong

Delving deep into Islamic history, the author seeks to lay to rest the picture of Islam as a violent, backward, and insular tradition. The story begins with the stirring of revelation in an Arab businessman named Muhammad and his concern with the poor who were being left behind in the blush of his society's new prosperity. Muhammad's ideas catch fire, quickly blossoming into a political empire. The book discusses numerous aspects of Islamic history including the Sunni-Shi'ite schism, the rise of Persian influence, European colonialism and various issues leading right up to current headlines.

Among the Believers - V. S. Naipaul

This is V. S. Naipaul's classic account of his 7-month journey through Iran, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia; 'the believers' are the Muslims he met on that journey, young men and women battling to regain the original purity of their faith in the hope of restoring order to a chaotic world. It is a unique insight into modern Islam and religious fanaticism.

http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/posts/...



Tug of War: The Battle for Italy 1943-45
Dominick Graham and Shelford Bidwell, Tug of War: The Battle for Italy, 1943-45


The Bitter Woods: The Battle of the Bulge
John S.D. Eisenhower, The Bitter Woods: The Battle of the Bulge


Command Missions: A Personal Story
Lt. Gen. Lucian K. Truscott, Command Missions: A Personal Story


Combat Command
Frederick C Sherman, Combat Command: The American Aircraft Carriers in World War II


the war and colonel warden
Gerald Pawle, The War and Colonel Warden


Alanbrooke
David Fraser, Alanbrooke


Battle for the Rhine
R.W. Thompson, The Battle of the Rhineland


Way of a Fighter: Memoirs
Way of a Fighter, The memoirs of Claire Lee Chennault


Generals of the Ardennes: American Leadership in the Battle of the Bulge
J.D. Morelock, Generals of the Ardennes: American Leadership in the Battle of the Bulge


The Last 100 Days
John Toland, The Last 100 Days

CRITICAL ANALYSIS AND THE GLOBAL CONTEXT


On War
Carl von Clausewitz // Ed. and trans. by Michael Howard and Peter Paret // 1832; repr. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1989

This edition of On War, the third English version published, is easily the best. It is indexed and care has been taken to provide an accurate translation from the original 1832 edition. On War represents one of the greatest works on military thought and strategy ever written and contains ideas and concepts that apply at either the operational or national levels.

The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century
Thomas Friedman // New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005

Friedman, a New York Times foreign-affairs columnist and pundit, sees the globalization process entering an entirely new phase. Advances in information technologies, an intensified world division of labor, stepped-up competition, and economic practices such as outsourcing have joined with the political opening of the world following the collapse of communism to produce a progressive “flattening” of the world. Friedman believes that states and individuals have no option but to accept this dynamic and develop the skills to survive the flattened world.

The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization
Thomas Friedman // New York: Anchor Books, 2000

One day in 1992, Thomas Friedman toured a Lexus factory in Japan and marveled at the robots that put the luxury cars together. That evening, as he ate sushi on a Japanese bullet train, he read a story about yet another Middle East squabble between Palestinians and Israelis. And it hit him: half the world was lusting after those luxury cars or at least the brilliant technology that made them possible, and the other half was fighting over who owned which olive tree. Friedman, the well-traveled New York Times foreign-affairs columnist, peppers The Lexus and the Olive Tree with stories that illustrate his central theme: that globalization—the Lexus—is the central organizing principle of the post–Cold War world, even though many individuals and nations resist by holding onto what has traditionally mattered to them—the olive tree.

Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power
Robert D. Kaplan // New York: Random House, 2010

In a book that knits together history, journalism, travel anecdotes, and strategic analysis, Robert Kaplan looks at the greater Indian Ocean region stretching from East Africa to Indonesia and argues that it will be the center of world geopolitics in the twenty-first century. Here, in particular, the interests of the United States, an energy-hungry China, and a rising India are increasingly converging. Kaplan’s work illuminates factors American policymakers will need to take into account in evaluating and advancing the strategic interests of the United States in the years ahead.

The Age of the Unthinkable: Why the New World Disorder Constantly Surprises Us and What We Can Do About It
Joshua C. Ramo // New York: Little, Brown, 2009

The key metaphor in this book is of a towering sand pile, built up one grain at a time that suddenly collapses. The author argues that the world is an unstable collection of political, economic, and ecological sand piles. Stability, he says, is impossible. Therefore, America should strengthen its own internal resilience—improving its systems of transport, health, and education—rather than attempting to eradicate every discrete threat.

Soldier’s Heart: Reading Literature Through Peace and War at West Point
Elizabeth D. Samet // New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007

The book chronicles Samet’s decade as an English professor at the United States Military Academy. It suggests that an exposure to literature and poetry provides Soldiers, regardless of rank, with the mental flexibility to think deeply and critically about issues such as morality, duty, and ethics that are vital elements of a well-rounded military professional.

The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don’t Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need—and What We Can Do About It
Tony Wagner // New York: Basic Books, 2008

American schools are not doing their jobs, contends higher-education advocate Tony Wagner in a story-driven and thought-provoking book. The Global Achievement Gap argues that secondary schools rely on multiple-choice tests and memorization while failing to produce students with the critical-thinking skills required in today’s world. The book is highly recommended to Army leaders seeking a better understanding of their Soldiers’ educational backgrounds and consequent challenges.

LEADERSHIP



Click: The Forces Behind How We Fully Engage with People, Work, and Everything We Do
Ori and Rom Brafman // New York: Crown, 2010

Interpersonal relationships lie at the core of most human endeavors. In this interesting and easy-to-read book, the authors use social psychology research to explain how and why people sometimes make instant connections with each other. Whether you are commanding a company, working on a staff, or trying to build rapport with indigenous leaders during a stability operation, you will find something in this study that will enhance your ability to accomplish your mission by building better personal relationships.

The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations
Ori and Rom Brafman // New York: Penguin Books, 2006

This succinct study explores how institutions react to change driven by the external environment. Written from the perspective of contemporary business, it offers examples of decentralized organizations, with their subordinate elements operating and growing independently, adapting faster than more centralized ones. Despite its focus on the civilian world, this model offers important insights for military leaders at the operational and tactical levels. The challenge that the authors extend is how to make decentralization work in today’s military.

Outliers: The Story of Success
Malcolm Gladwell // New York: Little, Brown, 2011

In his work on success, the author examines why some people succeed, living remarkably productive and impactful lives, while so many more never reach their potential. He questions the belief of the self-made man, asserting that successful people do not arise from nowhere, propelled by genius and talent. “They are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot.” Examining the lives of outliers from Mozart to Bill Gates, Gladwell builds a convincing case for how successful people rise to the top on a tide of advantages, education, and hard work.

Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard
Chip and Dan Heath // New York: Random House, 2010

In a compelling, story-driven narrative, the Heaths assemble decades of counterintuitive research in psychology, sociology, and other fields to shed new light on how individuals can achieve transformative change. Using the model of the rational versus the emotional, Switch shows that successful change follows a pattern that leaders can use to inspire reform, whether in a staff, a unit, or even one’s own personal habits.

War
Sebastian Junger // New York: Twelve, 2010

Between 2007 and 2008, the Korengal Valley in northeastern Afghanistan, a rugged mountainous region that skirts the border with Pakistan, was one of the most contested battlefronts in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization–led effort to dislodge the Taliban and stabilize the country. The men of Company B, 2d Battalion, 503d Infantry Regiment (Airborne), of the U.S. Army’s storied 173d Airborne Brigade, held the valley for coalition forces, all while clinging to rugged mountainsides with little food, little sleep, the loss of numerous comrades, and little contact with the outside world. The valley, according to Sebastian Junger, was “the Afghanistan of Afghanistan: too remote to conquer, too poor to intimidate, [and] too autonomous to buy off.” Instead of a strategic or geopolitical analysis, he focuses on chronicling the lives of the men of the 2d Platoon, with whom he was embedded during most of their two-year tours. The result is an intimate, provocative, and enlightening portrait of Soldiers under extremely difficult combat conditions and a deliberation on Soldiers’ responses to the adversity of warfare.

The Defence of Duffer’s Drift
E. D. Swinton // United States Infantry Association, 1916

First published in 1907, this essay in small-unit tactics was written by a veteran British officer whose service in the Boer War inspired the work. The book is organized into six “dreams” based on one scenario in which the protagonist, a young lieutenant in command of a detachment of fifty regulars, learns a total of twenty-two lessons about defending his position against a much larger guerrilla force. Related with humor and insight, this volume remains as instructive today as when it first appeared over a century ago.

Managing the Unexpected: Resilient Performance in an Age of Uncertainty
Karl E. Weick and Kathleen M. Sutcliffe // San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass, 2007

This book offers principles and practices to manage the unexpected. The authors use examples from organizations or groups that deal with life or death situations, such as the flight deck crew of an aircraft carrier or firefighting teams, where there is a strong possibility of failure, unforeseen incidents are a regular occurrence, small things make a difference, and lives are on the line. Whether the unexpected comes to you at a forward operating base or in a staff meeting at headquarters, Managing the Unexpected provides a valuable template for dealing with unpredictable events and developing a resilient, highly reliable organization.

HISTORY AND HERITAGE


John M. Schofield and the Politics of Generalship
Donald B. Connelly // Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006

John McAllister Schofield (1831–1906) rose in the course of a 46-year career from West Point cadet to Commanding General of the Army. Donald Connelly’s carefully argued biography includes several campaign and battle studies arising from Schofield’s Civil War experiences. The major theme of the book, however, is the interaction between the intensely partisan nineteenth-century American political environment and the efforts of the U.S. Army’s officer corps to develop a professional identity that included both expertise and a measure of autonomy. Some officers argued for a complete divorce of the military from politics. Based on his own experiences, Schofield understood that politics determined policy and urged Army officers to execute policy in a nonpartisan, disinterested, and even-handed manner. His approach to civil-military relations became the model for most Army officers from the early twentieth century to the present.

The Red Badge of Courage
Stephen Crane // New York: Tor Classics, 1990

A classic of American literature, this Civil War novel depicts a Union Soldier’s terrifying baptism of fire and his ensuing transformation from coward to hero. Originally published in 1895, its vivid evocation of battle remains unsurpassed.

This Kind of War: A Study in Unpreparedness
T. R. Fehrenbach // Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books, 2001

Regarded by many as one of the best books on the Korean War, This Kind of War captures the intensity and ferocity of combat at the platoon and company level. The book is written in a flowing, journalistic style that carries the reader along without having to pause to read footnotes or to check references. As his title implies, Fehrenbach emphasizes the lack of preparedness of those U.S. forces committed early in the war. He calls to account the Army, U.S. politicians, and the nature of American society itself for the setbacks suffered by U.S. troops in their initial engagements with the North Koreans and the Chinese. He contrasts those shortcomings with the Army’s later successes as the force gained experience and professionalism. His overriding lesson throughout the book is the disastrous consequences that a lack of training and readiness can have for Soldiers on the battlefield.

America’s First Battles: 1776–1965
Charles E. Heller and William A. Stofft, eds. // Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1986

Eleven prominent American military historians assess the first battles of nine wars in which the U.S. Army has fought. Each essay is written within a similar framework, examining how the U.S. Army prepares during peacetime, mobilizes for war, fights its first battle, and subsequently adapts to the exigencies of the conflict. America’s First Battles shows clearly the price of unpreparedness and the harsh adjustments that are often necessary when preconceived plans and doctrines meet reality on the ground.

We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young: Ia Drang—theBattle That Changed the War in Vietnam
Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway // New York: Presidio Press, 2004

This is a gripping firsthand account of the November 1965 Battle of the Ia Drang by the commander of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division. The Ia Drang was the first major combat test of the airmobile concept and the first major battle between U.S. forces and the North Vietnamese Army.

Between War and Peace: How America Ends Its Wars
Matthew Moten, ed. // New York: Simon and Schuster, 2011

Fifteen prominent military historians offer in this book thoughtful new interpretations of the goals sought, strategies pursued, and outcomes achieved by the United States in a dozen major and less well-known conflicts from the American Revolution to the Iraq war. Roger J. Spiller states early on in the book that American military doctrine today lacks “any definition of victory.” The subsequent essays illustrate that, throughout U.S. history, not only was the pursuit of military victory challenging but the results were often different and less decisive than initially anticipated.

Once an Eagle
Anton Myrer // New York: HarperTorch, 2001

An exciting historical novel, Once an Eagle traces the career of a fictitious Soldier from World War I to Vietnam. The book realistically portrays the confusion of combat, the bonds that form between fighting men, the tensions between line and staff officers, and the heavy responsibility of command. A great book for young leaders contemplating a career in the profession of arms and looking for a deeper understanding of Army culture.

The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn
Nathaniel Philbrick // New York: Viking Adult, 2010

Philbrick’s account offers insight into the celebrated 1876 clash between Indian warriors and elements of the U.S. 7th Cavalry led by Lt. Col. George A. Custer. The author’s recounting of personalities, leadership, tactics, weapons, and culture provides instructive examples of how the decisions of a company or battalion commander, even in defeat, can leave an indelible mark on U.S. national policy and history itself.

Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of Thermopylae
Steven Pressfield // New York: Bantam Books, 1999

In the battle of Thermopylae (480 BC), a small group of Spartan soldiers with a few Greek allies confronted a vastly superior Persian invasion force. Due to better training, discipline, and good use of terrain, the Greeks held off the Persians for seven days. Told through the eyes of the (fictitious) lone Greek survivor Xeones, Gates of Fire brings to life this epic battle while providing readers with insight into Spartan society and its military. Pressfield’s focus on, and sympathy with, the ordeal of the common infantryman makes Gates of Fire a tale of timeless relevance to all Soldiers.

The Killer Angels
Michael Shaara // New York: Modern Library, 2004

This fictional account of the battle of Gettysburg accurately depicts not only the events of this particular battle, but the nature of war itself. Readers of this Pulitzer Prize–winning book will come to appreciate that war is a kaleidoscope of planning and confusion, fear and gallantry, all seasoned with a good deal of luck.

The Art of War
Sun Tzu // Boston: Shambhala, 2005

Written in China over two thousand years ago, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War provides the first known attempt to formulate a rational basis for the planning and conduct of military operations. These wise, aphoristic essays contain timeless principles acted on by many twentieth-century commanders.

April 1865: The Month That Saved America
Jay Winik // New York: Harper Perennial, 2006

Written by a former government official with firsthand knowledge of several twentieth-century civil wars, this book recounts the pivotal events that occurred during the final month of the American Civil War and explains their significance. The momentous events included the fall of Richmond and the flight of the Confederate government, Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s surrender to Union General in Chief Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, and President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination at Ford’s Theater. Winik argues that Lee’s stoic dignity at Appomattox, combined with Grant’s quiet magnanimity, set in motion the healing process that reunified North and South and made the United States a stronger nation than it had been before the war.

THE U.S. Army CHIEF OF STAFF’S
PROFESSIONAL READING
LIST

http://www.history.army.mil/html/book...

SOURCE

My top 10: books anyone interested in U.S. military history should read
- Thomas E. Ricks

The American Revolution


Washington's Crossing
By David Hackett Fischer

Hands down, Fischer is my favorite historian. I have read every book he has written, and one of them, Albion's Seed, his masterpiece, twice. After this, check out his Paul Revere's Ride. I'd love to see him take on the Civil War sometime.

Civil War


Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era
By James M. McPherson

A lively, sweeping, comprehensive history of our most important war.

Indian Wars


Son of the Morning Star
Son of the Morning Star
By Evan S. Connell

A great take on Custer, and also of the life of the American soldier in the taking of the West.

World War II
I think our best-written war. If you haven't, read these next two together:


Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest
by Stephen Ambrose.

With a company of the 101st Airborne from D-Day to the end of World War II. I was reading this book once aboard a Marine CH-53 flying off Bosnia, and the grizzled old sergeant running the helicopter saw the book and gave me two thumbs up. By the way, I think the HBO series based on this book is the best war movie ever made.

Catch-22
by Joseph Heller.

The flip side of the band of brothers: Someone is trying to kill me, even though I have done nothing to him. More of a military book than many remember. "Without realizing how it had come about," Heller writes, "the combat men in the squadron discovered themselves dominated by the administrators appointed to serve them." Thus is it always.

And two from the war in the Pacific:


With the Old Breed
With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa
by E.B. Sledge.

No one passage or quotation leaps out, just the clear-eyed descriptions of mud, filth, flies and maggots by a young Marine who was amazed to be alive when the war ended ("You will survive," a mysterious voice assured him during a battle) and went on to become a professor of biology.

Thunder Below!: The USS Barb Revolutionizes Submarine Warfare in World War II
Thunder Below
by Eugene Fluckey.

A bad title for a sprightly memoir by a young submarine captain in the Pacific war, written by an old man looking back as a retired admiral, perhaps a bit amazed at the feats of his reckless youth. After sneaking into a harbor and shelling Japanese ships, he ran his sub into shoals, figuring correctly that no one would be crazy enough to follow him.

Korea


[bookr:This Kind of War: The Classic Korean War History|118690]
by T.R. Fehrenbach.

The book to read about the Korean War, if only for one passage: "You may fly over a land forever, you may bomb it, atomize it, pulverize it and wipe it clean of life -- but if you desire to defend it, protect it and keep it for civilization, you must do this on the ground, the way the Roman legions did, by putting your young men into the mud." This should hang on a wall somewhere in Washington. I am always amazed at the amount of mud that military operations churn up. And how heavy it can be on your boots. In parts of Iraq, the mud is like cement-gray, heavy and very difficult to chip off.

Vietnam
Both these Vietnam books are as much about how war changes people as about the war itself.


Achilles In Vietnam : Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character
by Jonathan Shay.

Written by a full-time veterans' counselor. "Bad leadership is a cause of combat trauma," but good training is a preventive medicine that can reduce trauma. Even so, "prolonged combat can wreck the personality." It makes me think of Oliver Wendell Holmes' report to his mother after the battle of Cold Harbor in 1864 that he was done.

The Nightingale's Song
by Robert Timberg

Obscure title, but a wonderful book about how war shaped John McCain, James Webb, Oliver North, and others schooled at the Naval Academy in the 1960s.

Milestones
by Sayyid Qutb


Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia
by Ahmed Rashid


Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia
by Ahmed Rashid


Operational Law Handbook 2006
by John Rawcliffe


Beating Goliath: Why Insurgencies Win
by Jeffrey Record


Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2003 to 2005
by Thomas E. Ricks


Brave New War: The Next Stage of Terrorism and the End of Globalization
by John Robb


Culture and Conflict in the Middle East
by Philip Carl Salzman


America's Forgotten Wars: The Counterrevolutionary Past and Lessons for the Future (Contributions in Military Studies)
by Sam C. Sarkesian


Strategic Challenges: America's Global Security Agenda (National Defense University)
by James A. Schear


Arms and Influence (The Henry L. Stimson Lectures Series)
by Thomas C. Schelling


Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror
by Michael Scheuer


Strategy, Politics & Defense Budgets (Institute of War & Peace Studies)
by Warner R. Schilling


Children at War
by P.W. Singer


The Idea that Is America: Keeping Faith with Our Values in a Dangerous World
by Anne-Marie Slaughter


Defeat Into Victory
by William Slim


Until the Last Trumpet Sounds: The Life of General of the Armies John J. Pershing
by Gene Smith


The Utility of Force: The Art of War in the Modern World
by Rupert Smith


The Prince of the Marshes: And Other Occupational Hazards of a Year in Iraq
by Rory Stewart


America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It
by Mark Steyn


The Anguish of Surrender: Japanese POWs of World War II
by Ulrich Straus


The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
by Nassim Nicholas Taleb


A Crazy Occupation: Eyewitness to the Intifada
by Jamie Tarabay


Fix Bayonets!
by John W. Thomason


Lone Star Preacher: Being a Chronicle of the Acts of Praxiteles Swan, M.E. Church South Sometime Captain, 5th Texas Regiment Confederate States Prov (Texas Tradition)
by John W., Jr. Thomason


Defeating Communist Insurgency: Experiences from Malaya and Vietnam
by Robert G.K. Thompson


The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War
by Thucydides


The History of the Peloponnesian War
by Thucydides


The Nightingale's Song
by Robert Timberg


Democracy in America
by Alexis de Tocqueville


Prescription For Disaster
by Joseph J. Trento


Constant Bearing - Decreasing Range: The Collision of Public Policy and National Defense
by Skip Vogel


Shell Shock to PTSD: Military Psychiatry from 1900 to the Gulf War (Maudsley Monographs)
by Simon Wessely


No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah
by Bing West


The Village
by Bing West


Infidels: A History of the Conflict Between Christendom and Islam
by Andrew Wheatcroft


The Enlightened Soldier: Scharnhorst and the Militarische Gesellschaft in Berlin, 1801-1805
by Charles Edward White


One Hundred Days: The Memoirs of the Falklands Battle Group Commander (Bluejacket Books Series)
by Sandy Woodward


The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11
by Lawrence Wright


Dreams and Shadows: The Future of the Middle East
by Robin Wright

Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software
by Steven Johnson


Command Missions: A Personal Story
by Lucian K. Truscott Jr.


The Return of History and the End of Dreams (Vintage)
by Robert Kagan


Daydream Believers: How a Few Grand Ideas Wrecked American Power
by Fred Kaplan


Hog Pilots, Blue Water Grunts: The American Military in the Air, at Sea & on the Ground
by Robert D. Kaplan


Imperial Grunts: The American Military on the Ground
by Robert D. Kaplan


Intelligence in War: The value--and limitations--of what the military can learn about the enemy
by John Keegan


The Mask of Command
by John Keegan


General Kenney Reports: A Personal History of the Pacific War (USAF Warrior Studies)
by George C. Kenney


Fateful Choices
by Ian Kershaw


The Dynamics of Military Revolution, 1300-2050
by MacGregor Knox


Bureaucracy does its thing: institutional constraints on U.S. -GVN performance in Vietnam
by Robert W. Komer


Warday
by James W. Kunetka


The Centurions
by Jean Larteguy


Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph
by T.E. Lawrence


The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror
by Bernard Lewis


China Hands: Nine Decades Of Adventure, Espionage, And Diplomacy In Asia
by James R. Lilley


The Maneuver Warfare Handbook
by William S. Lind


The Echo of Battle: The Army's Way of War
by Brian McAllister Linn


Niccolo Machiavelli: The Prince (Oxford World's Classics)
by Niccolò Machiavelli


The War for America, 1775-1783
by Piers Mackesy


The New Asian Hemisphere: The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East
by Kishore Mahbubani


The Quranic Concept of War
by S.K. Malik


Bugles and a Tiger (Cassell Military Paperbacks)
by John Masters


"Lessons" of the Past: The Use and Misuse of History in American Foreign Policy (Galaxy Books)
by Ernest R. May


Promised Land, Crusader State: The American Encounter with the World Since 1776
by Walter A. McDougall


Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (Oxford History of the United States)
by James M. McPherson


Iraq and the Evolution of American Strategy
by Steven Metz


Politics Among Nations
by Hans J. Morgenthau


Apollo: The Race To The Moon
by Charles Murray


Once An Eagle
by Anton Myrer


Combat Stress Injury: Theory, Research, and Management (Series in Psychosocial Stress)
by William P. Nash


The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future
by Vali Nasr


In Pursuit of Military Excellence: The Evolution of Operational Theory (Cummings Center Series)
by Shimon Naveh


Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents: The Politics of Leadership from Roosevelt to Reagan
by Richard E. Neustadt


Thinking In Time : The Uses Of History For Decision Makers
by Richard E. Neustadt


The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently...and Why
by Richard E. Nisbett


The Marauders
by Charlton Ogburn


Troublesome Young Men: The Rebels Who Brought Churchill to Power and Helped Save England
by Lynne Olson


Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present
by Michael B. Oren


Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway
by Jonathan Parshall


Air Force Spoken Here: General Ira Eaker and the Command of the Air
by James Parton


When the Rivers Run Dry: Water--The Defining Crisis of the Twenty-first Century
by Fred Pearce


Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps
by Allan Pease


Partners in Command: George Marshall & Dwight Eisenhower in War & Peace
by Mark Perry


Roosevelt's Secret War: FDR and World War II Espionage
by Joseph E. Persico


Killing Rommel
by Steven Pressfield


Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae
by Steven Pressfield

The General
by C.S. Forester


The Nuclear Jihadist
by Douglas Frantz


Quartered Safe Out There: A Harrowing Tale of World War II
by George MacDonald Fraser


Flashman on the March (The Flashman Papers, #12)
by George MacDonald Fraser


Flashman and the Tiger (The Flashman Papers, #11)
by George MacDonald Fraser


Flashman and the Redskins (The Flashman Papers, #7)
by George MacDonald Fraser


Flashman and the Angel of the Lord (The Flashman Papers, #10)
by George MacDonald Fraser


Flashman and the Dragon (The Flashman Papers, #8)
by George MacDonald Fraser


Flashman and the Mountain of Light (The Flashman Papers, #9)
by George MacDonald Fraser


Flashman's Lady (The Flashman Papers, #6)
by George MacDonald Fraser


Flashman in the Great Game (The Flashman Papers, #5)
by George MacDonald Fraser


Flash for Freedom! (The Flashman Papers, #3)
by George MacDonald Fraser


Flashman at the Charge (Flashman Papers, #4)
by George MacDonald Fraser


Royal Flash (The Flashman Papers, #2)
by George MacDonald Fraser


Flashman (The Flashman Papers, #1)
by George MacDonald Fraser


A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East
by David Fromkin


Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice (PSI Classics of the Counterinsurgency Era)
by David Galula


Directors of Central Intelligence as Leaders of the U.S. Intelligence Community, 19462005
by Douglas F. Garthoff


War in Human Civilization
by Azar Gat


Fixing Failed States : A Framework for Rebuilding a Fractured World
by Ashraf Ghani


Blink
by Malcolm Gladwell


Chaos: Making a New Science
by James Gleick


Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
by Doris Kearns Goodwin


Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq
by Michael R. Gordon


Fighting Talk: Forty Maxims on War, Peace, and Strategy
by Colin S. Gray


Another Bloody Century: Future Warfare (Phoenix Press)
by Colin S. Gray


The Quiet American
by Graham Greene


Battle Tactics of the Western Front: The British Army`s Art of Attack, 1916-18
by Paddy Griffith


Imperial Policing
by Charles W. Gwynn


The Best and the Brightest
by David Halberstam


War in a Time of Peace: Bush, Clinton and the Generals
by David Halberstam


The Sling and the Stone: On War in the 21st Century
by Thomas X. Hammes


Bandit Country
by Toby Harnden


The Suicide of Reason: Radical Islam's Threat to the West
by Lee Harris


Culture Matters: How Values Shape Human Progress
by Lawrence E. Harrison


Strategy
by B.H. Liddell Hart


Men at War: Men at War
by Ernest Hemingway


A Bell for Adano
by John Hersey


Destroyer Captain
by Roger Hill


National Power and the Structure of Foreign Trade (The Politics of the international economy)
by Alberto Hirschman


The Dark Side of the Force: Economic Foundations of Conflict Theory
by Jack Hirshleifer


The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements (Perennial Classics)
by Eric Hoffer


The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia
by Peter Hopkirk


A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954-1962 (New York Review Books Classics)
by Alistair Horne


Ethnic Groups in Conflict, Updated Edition With a New Preface
by Donald L. Horowitz


Victory on the Potomac: The Goldwater-Nichols Act Unifies the Pentagon (Texas a & M University Military History Series)
by James R. Locher III


Every War Must End (Columbia Classics)
by Fred Charles Ikle


The Professional Soldier
by Morris Janowitz


SAS Secret War
by Tony Jeapes


Perception and Misperception in International Politics (Center for International Affairs, Harvard University)
by Robert Jervis

A Call to Greatness: Challenging our Next President
by David M. Abshire


The Occupation of Iraq: Winning the War, Losing the Peace
by Ali A. Allawi


God's Terrorists: The Wahhabi Cult And the Hidden Roots of Modern Jihad
by Charles Allen


Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe
by Graham Allison


Reliance of the Traveller: The Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law Umdat Al-Salik
by Ahmad ibn Naqib Al-Misri


Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766
by Fred Anderson


The Origins of Totalitarianism
by Hannah Arendt


The Battle for God
by Karen Armstrong


War In The Shadows: The Guerrilla In History
by Robert B. Asprey


The Day of Battle : The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944
by Rick Atkinson


The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War
by Andrew J. Bacevich


The CIA and Congress: The Untold Story from Truman to Kennedy
by David M. Barrett


Adjust Fire: Transforming to Win in Iraq
by Michael A. Baumann


Cheating and Deception
by J. Bowyer Bell


Absolute War: Soviet Russia in the Second World War
by Christopher Bellamy


Lindbergh
by A. Scott Berg


Mars Learning: The Marine Corp's Development of Small Wars Doctrine, 1915-1940
by Keith B. Bickel


The Sibling Society
by Robert Bly


The Shield of Achilles
by Philip Bobbitt


Terror and Consent: The Wars of the Twenty-first Century
by Philip Bobbitt


The French Revolution & the Psychology of Revolution
by Gustave Le Bon


War Made New: Technology, Warfare, and the Course of History: 1500 to Today
by Max Boot


The Dark Valley: A Panorama of the 1930s
by Piers Brendon


The Anatomy of Revolution
by Crane Brinton


War and Politics
by Bernard Brodie


The Story of Maps
by Lloyd A. Brown


The Masks of War: American Military Styles in Strategy and Analysis: A RAND Corporation Research Study (Rand Corporation Research Study)
by Carl Builder


The Ugly American
by Eugene Burdick


Small Wars: Their Principles and Practice
by C. E. Callwell


On War
by Carl Von Clausewitz


Supreme Command: Soldiers, Statesmen, and Leadership in Wartime
by Eliot A. Cohen


The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century
by Steve Coll


Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't
by Jim Collins


Military Geography: For Professionals and the Public (Association of the United States Army)
by John M. Collins


Yeltsin: A Political Life
by Timothy J. Colton


Forged in Fire: Strategy and Decisions in the Airwar over Europe 1940-1945
by Dewitt S. Copp


Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War
by Robert Coram


Space Wars
by Michael Coumatos


The Power of One
by Bryce Courtenay


Makers of Modern Strategy from Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age
by Gordon Alexander Craig


Ending Terrorism: A Strategy for Defeating Al-Qaeda
by Audrey Kurth Cronin


The Logic of Failure: Recognizing and Avoiding Error in Complex Situations
by Dietrich Dörner


Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda
by Roméo Dallaire


The God Delusion
by Richard Dawkins


Customary International Humanitarian Law Boxed Set of 3 Hardback Books
by Louise Doswald-Beck


The Political Economy of Terrorism
by Walter Enders


The Enchiridion
by Epictetus


This Kind of War: The Classic Korean War History - Fiftieth Anniversary Edition
by T.R. Fehrenbach


War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism
by Douglas J. Feith


The Fighting 69th: From Ground Zero to Baghdad
by Sean Michael Flynn

Greater Middle East

Corporals and Below



Hatred’s Kingdom – Dore Gold


The Age of Sacred Terror: Radical Islam’s War Against America – Daniel Benjamin


No God but God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam – Reza Aslan


The Idea of Pakistan – Stephen Cohen


Understanding Arabs: A Guide for Modern Times – Margaret Nydell


The Arab Mind – Raphael Patai


The Shia Revival: How Conflicts Within Islam Will Shape the Future – Vali Nasr


Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution – Nikki Keddie


Failure of Political Islam – Oliver Roy


Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism – Robert Pope

Sergeants and Company Grade Officers


Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda – Gary Bernsten and Ralph Pezzullo


Global Responses to Terrorism: 9/11, Afghanistan and Beyond – Mary Buckley

Staff NCOs and Field Grade Officers


All the Shah’s Men – Stephen Kinzer


Intelligence in War: Knowledge of the Enemy from Napolean to Al-Qaeda – John Keegan


The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power – Max Boot


Battle Ready – Tom Clancy


The Shia Revival: How Conflicts Within Islam Will Shape the Future – Vali Nasr


Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution – Nikki Keddie


Failure of Political Islam – Oliver Roy


Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism – Robert Pope


A Peace to End All Peace – David Fromkin


The Arab Israeli Wars – Chaim Herzog


What Went Wrong?: The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East – Bernard Lewis


The Easter Offensive – Colonel G. H. Turley


The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror – Bernard Lewis

MARCENT Coordination Elements

MCWP 0-1.1 Componency (Required Reading for all MCE Assigned Personnel – MCWP 3-40.8

USMARCENT Theater Campaign Plan – MARCENT G-5 (not on NIPRNET)

Iraq

Sergeants and Company Grade Officers


No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle of Fallujah – Bing West


Imperial Grunts – Robert Kaplan


The Revolt on the Tigris – Mark Etherington

Djibouti / Horn of Africa

Sergeants and Company Grade Officers


What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam – John Esposito


The Battle for God – Karen Armstrong


Islamism and its Enemies in the Horn of Africa – Alex De Waal

Staff NCOs and Field Grade Officers


A Modern History of the Somali – I. M. Lewis


Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia – Paul Henze


Famine Crimes – Alex De Waal


The Horn of Africa: Politics and International Relations – Peter Woodward


The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror – Bernard Lewis

II. Recommended Reading for Marines and Sailors Deploying to Specific Regions of USCENTCOM’s AOR

Afghanistan


Corporals and Below


Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia – Ahmed Rashid


Taliban – Ahmed Rashid


Imperial Grunts – Robert Kaplan

Sergeants and Above and Company Grade Officers


Reaping the Whirlwind: Afghanistan, Al Qa'ida and the Holy War – Michael Griffin


Afghan Guerilla Warfare: In the Words of the Mujahideen Fighters – Ali Ahmad Jalali and Lester Grau


Imperial Grunts – Robert Kaplan


Tactics of the Crescent Moon – H. John Poole and Ray Smith


Afghanistan’s Cave Complexes 1979 – 2004 – Mir Bahmanyar


Soldier Sahibs – Charles Alan


The Village – Bing West


What Went Wrong?: The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East – Bernard Lewis


From Beirut to Jerusalem – Thomas Friedman


Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan – Lester Grau


The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War – Ali Ahmad Jalali and Lester Grau


The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power – Max Boot


Soldiers of God: With Islamic Warriors in Afghanistan and Pakistan – Robert Kaplan

Staff NCOs and Field Grade Officers

Afghanistan – Stephan Taylor (ed. note - unable to locate online)


The Osama Bin Laden I Know: An Oral History – Peter Bergen


Charlie Wilson’s War – George Crile


Afghanistan: A Military History – Stephen Tanner


Culture and Customs of Afghanistan – Hafizullah Emadi


War at the Top of the World: The Struggle for Afghanistan, Kashmir and Tibet – Eric Margolis


The Soviet Afghan War: How a Superpower Fought and Lost – Russian General Staff


Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia – Ahmed Rashid


The Punishment of Virtue – Sarah Chayes


Afghan Guerrilla Warfare – Ali Ahmad Jalali


The Battle for Peace: A Frontline Vision of America’s Power and Purpose – General Anthony Zinni

I. Require reading list for all Marines and Sailors deploying to USCENTCOM AOR.


All Ranks

link
Small Units Leaders’ Guide to Counterinsurgency – MCCDC (MCIP 3-33.01) (Ed. note, pardon the alternate online source, it is no longer available via FAS)

Closing Ranks – Leslie Susser, Jerusalem Post, 8 January 2007

Israel’s Lebanese War, A Preliminary Assessment – Dr. Martin van Creveld, The RUSI Journal, October 2006


Gates of Fire: Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae – Setphen Pressfield

Squad Leaders, Non-Commissioned Officers / Petty Officers and Above


The Village – Bing West

Ethics and Combat: Thoughts for Small Unit Leaders – Steven Silver, Marine Corps Gazette, November 2006

link
Twenty-Eight Articles: Fundamentals of Company-level Counterinsurgency – Dr. David Kilcullen


Blood Stripes – David Danelo

Marine Corps Center for Lessons Learned Website – (PKI / CAC Card Login Required)

Staff NCOs, CPOs, Company Grade Offices and Above

Winning the Peace, The Requirement for Full Spectrum Operations – MG Peter Chiarelli, Military Review, October 2006 (COIN Reader)

Tentative Manual for Countering Irregular Threats: An Updated Approach to Counterinsurgency Operations – MCWL (MCIP 3-33.02)

Learning Counterinsurgency: Observations from Soldiering in Iraq – LTG David Petraeus, Military Review, October 2006 (COIN Reader)

Seven Months in Ar Ramadi: Observations from 2nd Battalion 4th Marines - Marine Corps Center for Lessons Learned Website – (PKI / CAC Card Login Required)


A Bell for Adano – John Hersey

Marine Corps Center for Lessons Learned Website – (PKI / CAC Card Login Required)


One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer – Nathaniel Fick

Field Grade Officers, First Sergeants and Master Sergeants, CPOs / Above

Marine Corps Operating Concepts for a Changed Security Environment – MCCDC Pamphlet dated March 2006

Tentative Manual for Countering Irregular Threats: An Updated Approach to Counterinsurgency Operations – MCWL (MCIP 3-33.02)

Winning the Peace, The Requirement for Full Spectrum Operations – MG Peter Chiarelli, Military Review, October 2006 (COIN Reader)

Counterinsurgency – US Army Field Manual 3-24 / Marine Corps Warfighting Publication 33.3.5

Multi-Service Concept for Irregular Warfare – MCCDC / USSOCOM Pamphlet dated 2006


The Army in Vietnam – Andrew Krepenivich


Achilles in Vietnam – Jonathan Shay


The Crusades Through Arab Eyes – Amin Maalouf


The Small Wars Manual – FMFRP 12-15


Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice – David Galula


Combat Stress – Marine Corps Reference Publication 6-11C

Colonels and General Officers

Thoughts on Operational Art – Marine Corps Warfighting Lab, October 2006


The Utility of Force – General Rupert Smith


The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror – Bernard Lewis


Tentative Manual for Countering Irregular Threats: An Updated Approach to Counterinsurgency Operations – MCWL (MCIP 3-33.02)


Counterinsurgency – US Army Field Manual 3-24 / Marine Corps Warfighting Publication 33.3.5

Knowing the Enemy: Can Social Scientists Redefine the "War on Terror" – George Packer, The New Yorker Magazine dated 18 December 2006

Advising Foreign Forces: Tactics, Techniques and Procedures - Center for Army Lessons Learned Special Edition No. 06-01 dated January 2006 (requires AKO account)

.