
Military Reading List - espek07
http://www.bookadvice.co/military-reading-list.html
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dunfeemac2017
Letter from John Adams to Abigail Adams, post 12 May 1780:

"I could fill Volumes with Descriptions of Temples and Palaces, Paintings,
Sculptures, Tapestry, Porcelaine, &c. &c. &c. -- if I could have time. But I
could not do this without neglecting my duty. The Science of Government it is
my Duty to study, more than all other Studies Sciences: the Art of Legislation
and Administration and Negotiation, ought to take Place, indeed to exclude in
a manner all other Arts. I must study Politicks and War that my sons may have
liberty to study Painting and Poetry Mathematicks and Philosophy. My sons
ought to study Mathematicks and Philosophy, Geography, natural History, Naval
Architecture, navigation, Commerce and Agriculture, in order to give their
Children a right to study Painting, Poetry, Musick, Architecture, Statuary,
Tapestry and Porcelaine"

Always wanted to amass library of military history, strategy, diplomacy. Seems
a great list to start. Also wondering if any list available regarding the more
technical side. Jane's guides to aircraft carriers and the like. Thanks!

~~~
GFK_of_xmaspast
Kind of interesting that John wrote 'my' instead of 'our'.

~~~
sverige
There was no sort of feminism 200 years ago, so of course they were his sons
and it was his duty. Most of the autobiographies of the 19th century were
written by men who did not mention their wives, not because they did not love
and honor their wives, but because it was understood that women did not have a
public role, and scrutiny of the private business of great men was not
welcome.

~~~
logfromblammo
Also, many men were widowed and then remarried, perhaps multiple times. Many
of my male ancestors from that time had 3 wives, no divorces, and at least 2
children from each wife. Some of them may have had illegitimate children, but
those are much harder to verify genealogically.

Society becomes markedly different with contraception and modern obstetrics.

~~~
GFK_of_xmaspast
While this is technically true, in the particular case John Adams was married
only once, to Abigail, with whom they had six children.

~~~
logfromblammo
My spouse and I frequently refer to one child or the other as "that's _your_
kid", usually when exhibiting a trait characteristic of one parent in
particular.

John Adams may have been referring to a theoretical class of sons that may
have included unborn future sons, which may or may not have been born to
Abigail. He might have said to her that he wants _his_ sons to share his
values, just as he might suggest that _her_ sons should share hers, and it
would be coincidence that those two classes happen to be identical.

Or he might have believed that all sons were intrinsically their father's
children, not their mother's.

It's a lot of implied meaning to derive from a possessive pronoun. I wouldn't
make too much of it.

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Cowen
I'm not sure if this is an official list. But for those interested, the top
offices of the military do pretty regularly publish reading lists.

National Defense University (an actual part of the Department of Defense) has
links to them all here.

* [http://www.ndu.edu/Libraries/Professional-Military-Reading-L...](http://www.ndu.edu/Libraries/Professional-Military-Reading-List/)

EDIT: Well, plenty of the links appear to actually be broken. But a quick
Google can probably find those ones.

~~~
chrishacken
For those interested, here's the Marine Corps reading list. (Edit: that's
actually already in the list of links you posted, missed it). There are a lot
of good books on leadership; I'd stick to the Officer lists.

[http://guides.grc.usmcu.edu/usmcreadinglist](http://guides.grc.usmcu.edu/usmcreadinglist)

It's not on the list, but the best book I've ever read was One Bullet Away by
Nathaniel Fick; current CEO of Endgame Inc.

Turn the Ship Around! is also a great book about leadership and empowering
your subordinates.

~~~
Bahamut
I found some of the books on the Marine Corps lists somewhat propaganda, so
one has to be careful to not follow their lists blindly.

Source: I was a reserve Marine grunt and have read some of the books

~~~
arca_vorago
Agreed, but that's why you read the generals list and work your way down
instead of the other way around.

If I hear one more gates of fire reference... my head is going to explode.

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myrandomcomment
Leadership is key to everything you do. Everyone has to show it from the
lowest rank to the highest. It is the most important characteristic of the US
services.

This is the meaning of leadership:

[http://msl-cdn.radiantforestllc.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/up...](http://msl-
cdn.radiantforestllc.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/boss-vs-
leader-800x800.png)

Also I can highly recommend Turn The Ship Around! by L. David Marquest

[http://www.davidmarquet.com](http://www.davidmarquet.com)

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osullivj
Stephen Bungay, Most Dangerous Enemy: excellent revisionist account of the
Battle of Britain.

Anthony Beevor, Stalingrad

Anthony Beevor, Downfall: Berlin 1945

TN DuPuy, A Genius for War: explains how and why the German army was better

Von Manstein, Lost Victories: inside account by the author of the
sickleschnitt, the recapture of Kharkov in 1943, and possibly the best product
of the system DuPuy explains.

All armies work with raw material of the same quality. Given roughly
equivalent tech, why did the German Army outperform? There are lessons for all
kinds of organisations.

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sandworm101
All the lists in this thread are insular. There was a time when officers
across nations were expected to have read certain works. Things like the
classics, shakespeare and The Art of War were universal even across languages.
The books on military reading lists today may be inspirational stories, but
the language is nothing in comparison. If they want officers able to speak and
write well they need to assign books of a higher calibre.

Now perhaps it is TV that forms the common basis for communication between
officers. Blackadder references are common in the UK armed forces. In the US
TheSimpsons now forms a basis for shorthand expressions. I was at talk by an
RCAF officer a while ago where Firefly and Wash were referenced in regards to
information flows and workload. Perhaps today's officers are expected to be
versed more in television than books.

~~~
GFK_of_xmaspast
The canon changes, as it must, with time. (To use one of your examples, 'The
Art of War' didn't have an english translation until the early 20th century).

There's also a class issue involved, see for example Dorothy Sayer's "Busman's
Honeymoon" and in particular the references Lord Peter and the local throw at
each other.

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fforflo
For those interested I read many of these in 2016 and I've put some comments
on my retrospective post

[https://tselai.com/the-books-i-read-and-the-world-i-lived-
in...](https://tselai.com/the-books-i-read-and-the-world-i-lived-in-2016.html)

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s3r3nity
I think I would add "Team of Teams," co-authored by General Stanley A.
McChrystal. It blew my mind when I read it a year ago at how relevant it is to
working in tech, and was a fascinating read in improving how folks make
decisions in complex environments.

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overcast
What affiliation do you have with bookadvice / bookrepository ?

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hunvreus
I would also strongly recommend "Small Unit Leadership: A Commonsense
Approach": [https://www.amazon.com/Small-Unit-Leadership-Commonsense-
App...](https://www.amazon.com/Small-Unit-Leadership-Commonsense-
Approach/dp/0891411739)

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RUG3Y
The Marine Corps reading list is really good, I read a number of books from
the list when I was in and have continued reading from the list after leaving
service:

[http://guides.grc.usmcu.edu/usmcreadinglist](http://guides.grc.usmcu.edu/usmcreadinglist)

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nickjamespdx
David McCullough's (author of book #1 - 1776) thoughts on Trump prior to the
nomination.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eimt7yz0ID8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eimt7yz0ID8)

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fsloth
In what way "Professional"? Why have these books been picked? By whom?

The list does have good books on it but the lack-of-context around this list
leaves me confused.

~~~
griffinmmahon
"Professional" probably in terms of "professional development", i.e. the ideas
about character and historical knowledge deemed necessary by the military. I
think that each branch has its own reading list, and the book lists are
"picked" and revised by the most senior leadership (and also most likely their
staff). For example, the Commandant of the Marine Corps's reading list
([https://www.usmcofficer.com/marine-corps-
knowledge/commandan...](https://www.usmcofficer.com/marine-corps-
knowledge/commandants-reading-list/)), which includes books for each rank for
both enlisted and officers.

~~~
fsloth
Yes, but this list offers no such context.

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protomyth
1776 also has an amazing unabridged audiobook read by the author. David
McCullough has a great speaking voice that will keep you interested in the
material.

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normalperson123
in his book "Doing Time Like A Spy: How the CIA Taught Me to Survive and
Thrive in Prison" by John Kiriakou, he tells about the "20 rules" taught to
him by the cia to survive in an environment like prison. he briefly discusses
these 20 rules in interviews. i dont have the book, does anyone happen to know
what these 20 rules are?

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SFJulie
Thucidides (peloponesian wars)

How a democracy can turn into an expansive military dictature (Athenes) to
please the wealthy and make a dictature look good (Sparta) and at the end
Helen civilization collapse.

May I hazard that USA is looking very much like Athen?

Ho! And the guy who poisoned with his alt-truth democracy with a fascist lies
named Republic was Plato.

Sorry. I used to read and write old greek.

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camiller
It includes Starship Troopers? ok...

I would suggest adding The March to the Sea and Beyond: Sherman's Troops in
the Savannah and Carolinas Campaigns

it was the textbook for the civil war part of my History of American Military
Affairs class back when I was a student. Very easy read. I think I loaned my
copy to someone and never got it back, I may have to buy it again.

[https://www.amazon.com/March-Sea-Beyond-Carolinas-
Campaigns/...](https://www.amazon.com/March-Sea-Beyond-Carolinas-
Campaigns/dp/0807120286)

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griffinmmahon
_Starship Troopers_ was written by Robert Heinlein, who attended a service
academy and was an officer before WWII. The fact that it's science fiction
somewhat obstructs the satire present, namely citizens' relationship to war
and violence as a national value. The movies are basically entirely unrelated
in this way.

e: Heinlein wasn't in the Navy during WWII.

~~~
camiller
I know that, and have a well worn copy of the book myself. Was just surprised
to see a work of fiction, no matter how insightful, on a "Military Reading
List". But I guess I can see the point.

~~~
tcopeland
Yup, official military reading lists include a fair bit of fiction. Recent
ones that I can think of are Ghost Fleet, Starship Troopers, Enders Game, Red
Badge of Courage, The Orphan Master's Son, The Kite Runner.

The really nice thing is that since many of those lists are refreshed yearly,
they are an ongoing fountain of interesting books. Good stuff!

