The January 2009 revision of the Navy reading list

(source) The Navy Professional Reading Program was developed to encourage a life-long habit of reading and learning among all Sailors. The books included in these collections can provide readers with a deeper understanding and appreciation for naval heritage, the profession of arms, and the complex modern world in which we operate.

Other revisions

May 2022

July 2018

February 2017

January 2014

January 2012

January 2008

This revision

Junior Enlisted

Book cover for A Sailor's History of the U.S. Navy

Book cover for Ender's Game

Book cover for Flags of Our Fathers

Book cover for Life in Mr. Lincoln's Navy

Book cover for Lincoln on Leadership: Executive Strategies for Tough Times

Book cover for Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10

Book cover for Starship Troopers

Book cover for The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Book cover for The Declaration of Independence and Other Great Documents of American History 1775-1865

Book cover for The Kite Runner

Book cover for The Sand Pebbles

Book cover for Time Management from the Inside Out: The Foolproof System for Taking Control of Your Schedule--and Your Life

Leading Petty Officer

Book cover for American Government

Book cover for Billy Budd and Other Stories

Book cover for D Day: June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II

Book cover for Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda

Book cover for Shackleton's Way: Leadership Lessons from the Great Antarctic Explorer

Book cover for The Caine Mutiny: A Novel

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

Book cover for The Elephant and the Dragon: The Rise of India and China and What It Means for All of Us

Book cover for The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour

Book cover for The Sheriff: America's Defense of the New World Order

Book cover for The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

Book cover for To the Shores of Tripoli: The Birth of the U.S. Navy and Marines

Book cover for Victory at Yorktown: The Campaign That Won the Revolution

Division Leader

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

Book cover for Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

Book cover for Longitude

Book cover for On the Origins of War: And the Preservation of Peace

Book cover for Shield and Sword: The United States Navy and the Persian Gulf War

Book cover for Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy

Book cover for The Golden Thirteen: Recollections of the First Black Naval Officers

Book cover for The Good Shepherd

Book cover for The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book that Will Change the Way You Do Business

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

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

Book cover for Two Souls Indivisible

Department/Command Leader

Book cover for Eagle Against the Sun: The American War With Japan

Book cover for Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done

Book cover for From Beirut to Jerusalem

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

Book cover for Implementing Diversity

Book cover for Jefferson's War: America's First War on Terror 1801-1805

Book cover for Leadership: The Warrior's Art

Book cover for Master and Commander

Book cover for One Hundred Years of Sea Power: The U. S. Navy, 1890-1990

Book cover for The Cruel Sea

Book cover for The Fate of Africa: From the Hopes of Freedom to the Heart of Despair

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

Senior Leaders

Book cover for 1776

Book cover for Aircraft Carriers at War: A Personal Retrospective of Korea, Vietnam, and the Soviet Confrontation

Book cover for Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism

Book cover for Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War

Book cover for Leadership

Book cover for Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game

Book cover for Rethinking the Principles of War

Book cover for Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning

Book cover for Scenarios: The Art of Strategic Conversation

Book cover for The Art of the Long View: Planning for the Future in an Uncertain World

Book cover for The Great Wall at Sea: China's Navy Enters the Twenty-First Century

Book cover for The Pursuit of Victory: The Life and Achievement of Horatio Nelson

Book cover for The Second World War, Volume 1: The Gathering Storm