The September 2009 revision of the Marines reading list

(source) The Marine Corps Professional Reading Program Began as the Commandant's Reading List in 1988, although recommended reading lists have been generated for Marines since the 19th century. Each Commandant since 1988 has placed his personal stamp on the program, but many of the books have remained constant.

Other revisions

May 2017

March 2016

January 2013

November 2008

This revision

Lance Corporal

Book cover for A Message to Garcia

Book cover for Ender's Game

Book cover for First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps

Book cover for Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander's Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery

Book cover for Rifleman Dodd

Book cover for The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat

Book cover for The Lions of Iwo Jima: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History

Book cover for The Soldier's Load and the Mobility of a Nation

Book cover for The Ugly American

2d Lieutenant

Book cover for Baghdad at Sunrise: A Brigade Commander's War in Iraq

Book cover for Battle Exhortation: The Rhetoric of Combat Leadership

Book cover for Fields of Fire

Book cover for First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps

Book cover for Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander's Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery

Book cover for On Infantry

Book cover for The Anatomy of Courage: The Classic WWI Study of the Psychological Effects of War

Book cover for The Art Of War

Book cover for The Coldest Winter

Book cover for The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat

Book cover for The Lions of Iwo Jima: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History

Book cover for The Soldier's Load and the Mobility of a Nation

Book cover for Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War

1st Lieutenant

Book cover for Baghdad at Sunrise: A Brigade Commander's War in Iraq

Book cover for Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era

Book cover for Battle Exhortation: The Rhetoric of Combat Leadership

Book cover for Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice

Book cover for Face of Battle

Book cover for First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps

Book cover for Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander's Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery

Book cover for Reminiscences of a Marine

Book cover for The Bridge at Dong Ha

Book cover for The Coldest Winter

Book cover for The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat

Book cover for The Lions of Iwo Jima: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History

Book cover for Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War

Private

Book cover for A Message to Garcia

Book cover for Ender's Game

Book cover for First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps

Book cover for Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander's Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery

Book cover for Rifleman Dodd

Book cover for The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat

Book cover for The Lions of Iwo Jima: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History

Book cover for The Soldier's Load and the Mobility of a Nation

Private First Class

Book cover for A Message to Garcia

Book cover for Ender's Game

Book cover for First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps

Book cover for Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander's Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery

Book cover for Rifleman Dodd

Book cover for The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat

Book cover for The Lions of Iwo Jima: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History

Book cover for The Soldier's Load and the Mobility of a Nation

Book cover for The Ugly American

Corporal

Book cover for Baghdad at Sunrise: A Brigade Commander's War in Iraq

Book cover for Battle Exhortation: The Rhetoric of Combat Leadership

Book cover for Battle Leadership

Book cover for First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps

Book cover for Flags of Our Fathers

Book cover for Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae

Book cover for Imperial Grunts: The American Military on the Ground

Book cover for Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander's Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery

Book cover for The Coldest Winter

Book cover for The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat

Book cover for The Lions of Iwo Jima: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History

Book cover for Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War

Sergeant

Book cover for Attacks

Book cover for Baghdad at Sunrise: A Brigade Commander's War in Iraq

Book cover for Battle Exhortation: The Rhetoric of Combat Leadership

Book cover for First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps

Book cover for Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander's Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery

Book cover for The Art Of War

Book cover for The Coldest Winter

Book cover for The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat

Book cover for The Lions of Iwo Jima: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History

Book cover for The Village

Book cover for Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War

Book cover for Tip of the Spear: U.S. Marine Light Armor in the Gulf War

Book cover for With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa

Staff Sergeant

Book cover for A Bell for Adano

Book cover for Band of Brothers : E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest

Book cover for Face of Battle

Book cover for First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps

Book cover for Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander's Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery

Book cover for The Coldest Winter

Book cover for The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat

Book cover for The Lions of Iwo Jima: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History

Book cover for This Kind of War

Book cover for Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War

Book cover for Utmost Savagery: The Three Days of Tarawa

Gunnery Sergeant

Book cover for Breakout: The Chosin Reservoir Campaign, Korea 1950

Book cover for First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps

Book cover for Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander's Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery

Book cover for On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace

Book cover for The Coldest Winter

Book cover for The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat

Book cover for The Lions of Iwo Jima: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History

Book cover for The Savage Wars Of Peace: Small Wars And The Rise Of American Power

Book cover for Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War

Book cover for Victory at High Tide: The Inchon-Seoul Campaign

Book cover for We Were Soldiers Once...and Young: Ia Drang - the Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam

Master Sergeant

Book cover for Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era

Book cover for Decoding Clausewitz: A New Approach to On War

Book cover for Fields of Battle: The Wars for North America

Book cover for First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps

Book cover for Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander's Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery

Book cover for On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society

Book cover for Reminiscences of a Marine

Book cover for Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph

Book cover for The Coldest Winter

Book cover for The Culture of War

Book cover for The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat

Book cover for The Lions of Iwo Jima: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History

Book cover for Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War

First Sergeant

Book cover for Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era

Book cover for Decoding Clausewitz: A New Approach to On War

Book cover for Fields of Battle: The Wars for North America

Book cover for First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps

Book cover for Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander's Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery

Book cover for On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society

Book cover for Reminiscences of a Marine

Book cover for Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph

Book cover for The Coldest Winter

Book cover for The Culture of War

Book cover for The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat

Book cover for The Lions of Iwo Jima: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History

Book cover for Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War

Master Gunnery Sergeant

Book cover for Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character

Book cover for Decoding Clausewitz: A New Approach to On War

Book cover for First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps

Book cover for No Bended Knee: The Battle for Guadalcanal The Memoir of Gen. Merrill B. Twining, USMC

Book cover for Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander's Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery

Book cover for The Arab Mind

Book cover for The Coldest Winter

Book cover for The Culture of War

Book cover for The General

Book cover for The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat

Book cover for The Lions of Iwo Jima: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History

Book cover for The Mask of Command

Book cover for Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War

Sergeant Major

Book cover for Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character

Book cover for Decoding Clausewitz: A New Approach to On War

Book cover for First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps

Book cover for No Bended Knee: The Battle for Guadalcanal The Memoir of Gen. Merrill B. Twining, USMC

Book cover for Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander's Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery

Book cover for The Arab Mind

Book cover for The Coldest Winter

Book cover for The Culture of War

Book cover for The General

Book cover for The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat

Book cover for The Lions of Iwo Jima: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History

Book cover for The Mask of Command

Book cover for Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War

Officer Candidate

Book cover for A Message to Garcia

Book cover for Ender's Game

Book cover for First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps

Book cover for Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander's Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery

Book cover for Rifleman Dodd

Book cover for The Armed Forces Officer

Book cover for The Coldest Winter

Book cover for The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat

Book cover for The Lions of Iwo Jima: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History

Book cover for The Soldier's Load and the Mobility of a Nation

Book cover for Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War

Midshipman

Book cover for A Message to Garcia

Book cover for Ender's Game

Book cover for First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps

Book cover for Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander's Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery

Book cover for Rifleman Dodd

Book cover for The Armed Forces Officer

Book cover for The Coldest Winter

Book cover for The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat

Book cover for The Lions of Iwo Jima: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History

Book cover for The Soldier's Load and the Mobility of a Nation

Book cover for Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War

Warrant Officer

Book cover for Baghdad at Sunrise: A Brigade Commander's War in Iraq

Book cover for Battle Exhortation: The Rhetoric of Combat Leadership

Book cover for Fields of Fire

Book cover for First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps

Book cover for Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander's Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery

Book cover for On Infantry

Book cover for The Anatomy of Courage: The Classic WWI Study of the Psychological Effects of War

Book cover for The Art Of War

Book cover for The Coldest Winter

Book cover for The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat

Book cover for The Lions of Iwo Jima: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History

Book cover for The Soldier's Load and the Mobility of a Nation

Book cover for Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War

Chief Warrant Officer 2

Book cover for Baghdad at Sunrise: A Brigade Commander's War in Iraq

Book cover for Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era

Book cover for Battle Exhortation: The Rhetoric of Combat Leadership

Book cover for Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice

Book cover for Face of Battle

Book cover for First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps

Book cover for Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander's Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery

Book cover for Reminiscences of a Marine

Book cover for The Bridge at Dong Ha

Book cover for The Coldest Winter

Book cover for The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat

Book cover for The Lions of Iwo Jima: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History

Book cover for Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War

Chief Warrant Officer 3

Book cover for Baghdad at Sunrise: A Brigade Commander's War in Iraq

Book cover for First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps

Book cover for For the Common Defense

Book cover for Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander's Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery

Book cover for On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace

Book cover for The Arab Mind

Book cover for The Coldest Winter

Book cover for The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat

Book cover for The Lions of Iwo Jima: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History

Book cover for The Mask of Command

Book cover for The Savage Wars Of Peace: Small Wars And The Rise Of American Power

Book cover for Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War

Chief Warrant Officer 4

Book cover for Decoding Clausewitz: A New Approach to On War

Book cover for First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps

Book cover for Grant Takes Command: 1863 - 1865

Book cover for Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander's Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery

Book cover for Once An Eagle

Book cover for The Coldest Winter

Book cover for The Culture of War

Book cover for The Guns of August

Book cover for The History of the Peloponnesian War

Book cover for The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat

Book cover for The Lions of Iwo Jima: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History

Book cover for The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century

Book cover for Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War

Chief Warrant Officer 5

Book cover for Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power

Book cover for Defeat Into Victory: Battling Japan in Burma and India, 1942-1945

Book cover for First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps

Book cover for Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander's Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery

Book cover for Supplying War: Logistics from Wallenstein to Patton

Book cover for The Coldest Winter

Book cover for The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat

Book cover for The Lions of Iwo Jima: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History

Book cover for Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War

Book cover for Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954-1965

Captain

Book cover for Baghdad at Sunrise: A Brigade Commander's War in Iraq

Book cover for First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps

Book cover for For the Common Defense

Book cover for Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander's Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery

Book cover for On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace

Book cover for The Arab Mind

Book cover for The Coldest Winter

Book cover for The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat

Book cover for The Lions of Iwo Jima: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History

Book cover for The Mask of Command

Book cover for The Savage Wars Of Peace: Small Wars And The Rise Of American Power

Book cover for Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War

Major

Book cover for Decoding Clausewitz: A New Approach to On War

Book cover for First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps

Book cover for Grant Takes Command: 1863 - 1865

Book cover for Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander's Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery

Book cover for Once An Eagle

Book cover for The Coldest Winter

Book cover for The Culture of War

Book cover for The Guns of August

Book cover for The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War

Book cover for The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat

Book cover for The Lions of Iwo Jima: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History

Book cover for The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century

Book cover for Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War

Lieutenant Colonel

Book cover for Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power

Book cover for Decoding Clausewitz: A New Approach to On War

Book cover for Defeat Into Victory: Battling Japan in Burma and India, 1942-1945

Book cover for Descent into Chaos: The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia

Book cover for First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps

Book cover for Masters of War: Classical Strategic Thought

Book cover for Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander's Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery

Book cover for Supplying War: Logistics from Wallenstein to Patton

Book cover for The Coldest Winter

Book cover for The Culture of War

Book cover for The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat

Book cover for The Lions of Iwo Jima: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History

Book cover for Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War

Book cover for Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954-1965

Colonel to General

Book cover for Decoding Clausewitz: A New Approach to On War

Book cover for Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam

Book cover for Diplomacy

Book cover for Feeding Mars: Logistics In Western Warfare From The Middle Ages To The Present

Book cover for First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps

Book cover for Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander's Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery

Book cover for Supreme Command: Soldiers, Statesmen, and Leadership in Wartime

Book cover for The Coldest Winter

Book cover for The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror

Book cover for The Culture of War

Book cover for The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat

Book cover for The Lions of Iwo Jima: The Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History

Book cover for Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War

Book cover for Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief