The May 2013 revision of the Army reading list

(source) The readings provide a useful course of independent study in the origin of the profession of arms, valuable leadership techniques, and the use of our critical-thinking abilities to understand the world around us. Taken together, these readings will help Soldiers or Army civilians sharpen their intellects while preparing for their next level of responsibility. The books also complement materials currently used in the Army educational system and can help bridge the intervals between periods of formal instruction at Army schools. While intended for independent study, one could also use the list as the basis for establishing book clubs, discussion groups, and other professional development activities

Other revisions

May 2017

May 2014

January 2011

January 2010

January 2009

This revision

The Army Profession

Book cover for Nineteen Stars: A Study in Military Character and Leadership

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

Book cover for Between War and Peace: How America Ends Its Wars

Book cover for Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War

Book cover for Command Culture: Officer Education in the U.S. Army and the German Armed Forces, 1901-1940, and the Consequences for World War II

Book cover for The Constitution of the United States of America

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

Book cover for Eisenhower: A Soldier's Life

Book cover for Face of Battle

Book cover for The Forgotten Hero of My Lai: The Hugh Thompson Story

Book cover for Grey Eminence: Fox Conner and the Art of Mentorship

Book cover for Grunts: Inside the American Infantry Combat Experience, World War II Through Iraq

Book cover for Lincoln and His Generals

Book cover for A Message to Garcia

Book cover for Once An Eagle

Book cover for Partners in Command: George Marshall and Dwight Eisenhower in War and Peace

Book cover for Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant  Volume 2

Book cover for The Profession of Arms

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

Book cover for The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier's Education

The Strategic Environment

Book cover for The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World

Book cover for Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World

Book cover for On China

Book cover for The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order

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

Book cover for Forgotten Continent: The Battle for Latin America's Soul

Book cover for The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire

Book cover for A History of Modern Iran

Book cover for Kevlar Legions: The Transformation of the U.S. Army, 1989-2005

Book cover for Knowing the Enemy: Jihadist Ideology and the War on Terror

Book cover for The Longest War: The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict

Book cover for Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power

Book cover for The Most Noble Adventure: The Marshall Plan and How America Helped Rebuild Europe

Book cover for My Life with the Taliban

Book cover for Prodigal Soldiers: How the Generation of Officers Born of Vietnam Revolutionized the American Style of War

Book cover for The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World

Book cover for That Used to be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back

Book cover for The Utility of Force: The Art of War in the Modern World

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

Book cover for A World Restored: Metternich, Castlereagh and the Problems of Peace, 1812-22

The Force of Decisive Action

Book cover for The AEF Way of War: The American Army and Combat in World War I

Book cover for American Military History, Volume II: The United States Army in a Global Era, 1917-2003

Book cover for An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943

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

Book cover for The Battle of the Huertgen Forest

Book cover for A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam

Book cover for The Cambridge Illustrated History of Warfare

Book cover for East of Chosin: Entrapment and Breakout in Korea, 1950

Book cover for Intelligence in War: The value--and limitations--of what the military can learn about the enemy

Book cover for The Killer Angels: A Novel

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

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

Book cover for A Stillness at Appomattox

Book cover for Summons of the Trumpet: U.S.-Vietnam in Perspective

Book cover for Supplying War: Logistics from Wallenstein to Patton

Book cover for This Kind of War

Book cover for Tip of the Spear: U.S. Army Small Unit Action in Iraq, 2004-2007

Book cover for Transformation Under Fire: Revolutionizing How America Fights

Book cover for The U.S. Military Intervention in Panama: Origins, Planning, and Crisis Management, June 1987-December 1989

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

Book cover for 1776

Broadening Leaders

Book cover for The Age of the Unthinkable: Why the New World Disorder Constantly Surprises Us And What We Can Do About It

Book cover for Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire

Book cover for Cables from Kabul: The Inside Story of the West's Afghanistan Campaign

Book cover for A Choice of Enemies: America Confronts the Middle East

Book cover for Credibility: How Leaders Gain and Lose It, Why People Demand It

Book cover for The Devil You Don't Know: Going Back to Iraq

Book cover for Discourses on Livy

Book cover for The Dynamics of Military Revolution, 1300-2050

Book cover for Flawed by Design: The Evolution of the CIA, JCS, and NSC

Book cover for For Whom the Bell Tolls

Book cover for How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything...in Business (and in Life)

Book cover for Leading Change

Book cover for Makers of Modern Strategy from Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age

Book cover for The Masks of War: American Military Styles in Strategy and Analysis: A RAND Corporation Research Study

Book cover for The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom

Book cover for Rethinking the Principles of War

Book cover for The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations

Book cover for Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard

Book cover for Thinking in Time: The Uses of History for Decision-Makers

Book cover for Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century