2017 Navy Reading List

Below is the Official CNO’s professional reading list. The list is broken up into six sections and contains 166 books:

• The Cannon
• Core Attributes
• Naval Power
• Navy Team
• High Velocity Learning
• Partnerships

The Canon

1. MASTERS OF WAR:  CLASSICAL STRATEGIC THOUGHT, by Michael I. Handel
2. STRATEGY: The Classic Book on Military Strategy:, by B.H. Liddell Hart
3. MILITARY STRATEGY:  A General Theory of Power Control, by J. C. Wylie
4. THE LANDMARK THUCYDIDES: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War, by Robert B. Strassler
5. THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, by James Madison
6. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, by  Thomas Jefferson
7. ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
8. THE FEDERALIST PAPERS, by  Alexander Hamilton
9. THE INFLUENCE OF SEAPOWER ON HISTORY: 1660 – 1783, by A.T. Mahan
10. MAKERS OF MODERN STRATEGY: From Machiavelli to the Modern Age, Edited by Peter Paret, with Gordon A. Craig and Felix Gilbert
11. PRINCIPLES OF MARITIME STRATEGY, by Julian Corbett
12. THE ART OF WAR, By Sun Tzu
13. ON WAR, by Carl von Claswewitz
14. A DESIGN FOR MAINTAINING MARITIME SUPERIORITY
15. NAVY CIVILIAN WORKFORCE FRAMEWORK
16. NAVY LEADER DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK

Core Values

1. WARRIORS AND CITIZENS: American Views of our Millitary, by Kori Schake & Jim Mattis
2. MAKE YOUR BED: Little Things That Can Change Your Life And Maybe The World, by Admiral William H. McRaven
3. GIVING VOICE TO VALUES: How to Speak Your Mind When You Know What’s Right, by Mary C. Gentile
4. TEAMS OF TEAMS: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World, by Stanley McChrystal
5. LEADERS EAT LAST: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t,  by Simon Sinek
6. THE SEVEN SIGNS OF ETHICAL COLLAPSE: How to Spot Moral Melthdowns in Companies Before It’s Too Late, by Marianne M. Jennings
7. THE ANATOMY OF COURAGE: The Classic WWI Study of the Psychological Effects of War, by Lord Moran
8. START WITH WHY: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, by Simon Sinek
9. THOUGHTS OF A PHILOSOPHICAL FIGHTER PILOT, by James Stockdale
10. IN LOVE AND WAR: The Story of a Family’s Ordeal and Sacrifice During the Vietnam Years, by James and Sybil Stockdale
11. MEDITATIONS,  by Marcus Aurelius
12. MANAGING THE UNEXPECTED:  Resilient Performance in an Age of Uncertainty, by Karl E. Weick and Kathleen M. Sutcliffe
13. NAVIGATING THE SEVEN SEAS: Leadership Lessons of the First African-American Father and Son to Serve at the Top of the U.S. Navy, by   Melvin G. Williams, Sr. and Melvin G. Williams, Jr.
14. THE RULES OF THE GAME: Jutland and British Naval Command, by Andrew Gordon
15. THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, by Peter M. Senge
16. THE LAST STAND OF THE TIN CAN SAILORS, by James D. Hornfischer
17. THE CONQUERING TIDE:  War in the Pacific Islands, 1942 – 1944, by Ian W. Toll
18. MATTERHORN: A Novel of the Vietnam War, by Karl Marlantes
19. ENCHIRIDION, by Epictetus
20. THE ROAD TO CHARACTER, by David Brooks

Naval Power

1. ON GRAND STRATEGY, by John Gaddis
2. SCALES ON WAR: The Future of America’s Military at Risk, by Maj. Gen Bob Scales
3. NEPTUNE’S INFERNO, by James D. Hornfischer
4. SEAPOWER: The History and Geopolitics of the World’s Oceans, by Admiral James Stavridis
5. TOWARD A NEW MARITIME STRATEGY: American Naval Thinking in the Post-Cold War Era, by Peter D. Haynes
6. THE RULES OF THE GAME: Jutland and British Naval Command, by Andrew Gordon
7. SEAPOWER: A Guide for the 21st Century, by Geoffrey Till
8. RED STAR OVER THE PACIFIC: China’s Rise and the Challenge to U.S. Maritime Superiority,
9. by Toshi Yoshihara and James R. Holmes
10. PACIFIC CRUCIBLE: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941 – 1942, by Ian W. Toll
11. THE CONQUERING TIDE: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942 – 1944, by Ian W. Toll
12. SIX FRIGATES: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy, by Ian W. Toll
13. CYBERSECURITY AND CYBERWAR: What Everyone Needs to Know, by P.W. Singer and Allan Friedman
14. PACIFIC: Silicon Chips and Surf Boards, Coral Reefs and Atom Bombs, Brutal Dictators Fading Empires and the Coming Collision of the World’s Superpowers, by Simon Winchester
15. THE RICKOVER EFFECT: The Inside Story of How Adm. Hyman Rickover Built the Nuclear Navy, by Theodore Rockwell
16. RICKOVER AND THE NUCLEAR NAVY: The Discipline of Technology, by Francis Duncan
17. THE TWO-OCEAN WAR: A Short History of the United States Navy in the Second World War, by Samuel Eliot Morison
18. FLEET TACTICS: And Coastal Combat, 2nd Edition, by Wayne P. Hughes, Jr.
19. THE FACE OF BATTLE: A Study of Agincourt, Waterloo, and the Somme, by John Keegan
20. MILITARY READINESS:  Concepts, Choices, Consequences, by Richard K. Betts
21. MILITARY INNOVATION IN THE INTERWAR PERIOD, Edited by Williamson Murray and Allan R. Millett
22. ALL THE FACTORS OF VICTORY: Admiral Joseph Mason Reeves and Origins of the Carrier Airpower, by Thomas Wildenberg
23. EXECUTE AGAINST JAPAN: The U.S. Decision to Conduct Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
24. by Joel Ira Holwitt
25. JOHN BARRY: An American Hero in the Age of Sail, by Tim McGrath
26. EMPIRES OF THE SEA: The Siege of Malta, The Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the World, by Roger Crowley
27. SHATTERED SWORD: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway, by Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully
28. MASTER AND COMMANDER, by Patrick O’Brian
29. 1812: THE NAVY’S WAR, by George C. Daughan
30. TECHNOLOGY AND WAR: From 2000 B.C. to the Present, by Martin Van Creveld
31. WIRED FOR WAR: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century, by P.W. Singer
32. FREEDOM’S FORGE: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II, by Arthur Herman
33. THE MAKING OF THE ATOMIC BOMB, by Richard Rhodes
34. JOE ROCHEFORT’S WAR: The Odyssey of the Codebreaker who Outwitted Yamamoto at Midway,
35. by Elliot Carlson
36. THE PURSUIT OF VICTORY: The Life and Achievement of Horatio Nelson, by Roger Knight
37. WASHINGTON’S CROSSING: Pivotal Moments in American History by David Hackett Fischer
38. ONE HUNDRED DAYS: The Memoirs of the Falklands Battle Group Commander, by Admiral Sandy Woodward with Patrick Robinson
39. FIGHTING TALK: Forty Maxims on War, Peace, and Strategy, by Colin S. Gray
40. MATTERHORN: A Novel of the Vietnam War, by Karl Marlantes
41. GHOST FLEET: A Novel of the Next World War, by P.W. Singer and August Cole
42. HOLD BACK THE NIGHT, by Pat Frank
43. UTMOST SAVAGERY: The Three Days of Tarawa, by COL Joseph H. Alexander, USMC (Ret)
44. YELLOW SMOKE: The Future of Land Warfare for America’s Military, by Maj. Gen. Robert H. Scales, Jr.
45. ENGLAND IN THE SEVEN YEARS’ WAR: A Study in Combined Strategy, by Julian S. Corbett
46. NAVIGATING THE SEVEN SEAS: Leadership Lessons of the First African-American Father and Son to Serve at the Top in the U.S. Navy, by Melvin G. Williams, Sr. and Melvin G. Williams, Jr.
47. THE RULES OF THE GAME: Jutland and British Naval Command, by Andrew Gordon
48. THE LAST STAND OF THE TIN CAN SAILORS: The Extrodinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy’s Finest Hour, by James D. Hornfischer
49. THE FLEET AT FLOOD TIDE: America at Total War in the Pacific, 1944-1945, by James D. Hornfischer
50. SHIP OF GHOSTS: The Story of the USS Houston, FDR’s Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of her Survivors, by James D. Hornfischer
51. LEADING CHANGE, by John P. Kotter
52. MATTERHORN: A Novel of the Vietnam War, by Karl Marlantes
53. FIRST TO FIGHT: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps, by Victor H. Krulak
54. THE MARINES OF MONTFORD POINT: America’s First Black Marines, by Melton Alonza McLaurin
55. AMERICAN SPARTANS: The U.S. Marines: A Combat History from Iwo Jima to Iraq by James Warren
56. CHESTY: The Story of Lieutenant General Lewis B. Puller, USMC, by Colonel Jon T. Hoffman
57. FORGOTTEN WARRIORS: The 1ST Provisional Marine Brigade, The Corps Ethos, and the Korean War, by Thomas Hammes
58. BRUTE: The Life of Victor Krulak, U.S. Marine,  by Robert Coram

 

High Velocity Learning

1. MACHINE PLATFORM CROWD: A Military Futurist Explores War in the 21st Century, by Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson
2. 7 DEADLY SCENARIOS: A Military Futurist Explores War in the 21st Century, by Andrew F. Krepinevich
3. VALUE: The Four Cornerstones of Corporate Finance, by Tim Koller, Richard Dobbs, Bill Huyett, McKinsey & Company
4. GRAND STRATEGIES IN WAR AND PEACE, by Paul Kennedy
5. THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE: The New History of Rome and the Barbarians, by Peter Heather
6. THE TIPPING POINT: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, by Malcolm Gladwell
7. OUTLIERS: The Story of Success, by Malcolm Gladwell
8. DEMOCRACY: Stories from the Long Road to Freedom, by Condoleezza Rice
9. ON WRITING WELL: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction, by William Zinsser
10. THE INNOVATOR’S DILEMMA: The Revolutionary Book that Will Change the Way You Do Business, by Clayton M. Christensen
11. THE HIGH VELOCITY EDGE: How Market Leaders Leverage Operational Excellence to Beat the Competition, by Steven J. Spear
12. THE CHECKLIST MANIFESTO:  How to Get Things Right, by Atul Gawande
13. THE HARD THING ABOUT HARD THINGS
14. Building a Business When there are No Easy Answers, by Ben Horowitz
15. A WHOLE NEW MIND: Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future, by Daniel H. Pink
16. SPRINT: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days, by Jake Knapp
17. THE SECOND MACHINE AGE: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies, by Erik Brynjolfsson
18. THINKING FAST AND SLOW, by Daniel Kahneman
19. THINKING IN TIME: The Uses of History for Decision Makers, by Richard E. Neustadt
20. THE FIELD GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING ‘HUMAN ERROR’, by Sidney Dekker
21. THE KNOWING DOING GAP: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action, by Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton
22. THE VISUAL DISPLAY OF QUANTITATIVE INFORMATION, by Edward Tufte
23. SENSEMAKING IN ORGANIZATIONS, by Karl E. Weick
24. THE ART OF THE LONG VIEW: Planning for the Future in an Uncertain World, by Peter Schwartz
25. THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE: Everything You Need to Know to Write, by William Strunk, Jr.
26. INVITING DISASTER: Lessons from the Edge of Technology, by James R. Chiles
27. ENVISIONING INFORMATION, by Edward R. Tufte
28. EXECUTION: The Discipline of Getting Things Done, by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan
29. THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, by Peter M. Senge
30. DRIFT INTO FAILURE: From Hunting Broken Components to Understanding Complex Systems, by Sidney Dekker
31. THE BLACK SWAN: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
32. FREAKONOMICS: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, by Steven D. Levitt
33. THE SINGULARITY IS NEAR: When Humans Transcend Biology, by Ray Kurzweil
34. SIMULATING WAR: Studying Conflict Through Simulation Games, by Philip Sabin
35. STRATEGY: A HISTORY, by Lawrence Freedman
36. MANAGING THE RISKS OF ORGANIZATIONAL ACCIDENTS: The Inside Story of How Adm. Hyman Rickover Built the Nuclear Navy, by James Reason
37. THE HEART OF CHANGE: Real-Life Stories of How People Change Their Organizations,
38. by John P. Kotter and Dan S. Cohen
39. RED TEAM: How to Succeed By Thinking Like the Enemy, by Micah Zenko
40. THE BOX: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger, by Marc Levinson
41. BLACKETT’S WAR: The Men Who Defeated the Nazi U-Boats and Brought Science to the Art of Warfare, by Stephen Budiansky
42. BLACKETT’S WAR: The Men Who Defeated the Nazi U-Boats and Brought Science to the Art of Warfare,
43. by Stephen Budiansky
44. MANAGING THE UNEXPECTED: Resilient Performance in an Age of Uncertainty,
45. by Karl E. Weick and Kathleen M. Sutcliffe

 

The Navy Team

1. SERVICE: A Navy SEAL at War, by Marcus Luttrell with James D. Hornfischer
2. HUMILITY IS THE NEW SMART, by Edward Hess
3. THE LAST WARRIOR: Andrew Marshall and the Shaping of Modern American Defense Strategy, by Andrew F. Krepinevich and Barry Watts
4. HIS EXCELLENCY: GEORGE WASHINGTON, by Joseph J. Ellis
5. THE ACCIDENTAL ADMIRAL: A Sailor Takes Command at NATO, by James Stavridis
6. GRANT: Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant and Selected Letters 1839 – 1865,
7. Edited by William S. McFeely and Mary McFeely
8. TEAM OF TEAMS: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World, by Stanley McChrystal
9. NAVIGATING THE SEVEN SEAS: Leadership Lessons of the First African-American Father and Son to Serve at the Top of the U.S. Navy, by Melvin G. Williams, Sr. and Melvin G. Williams, Jr.
10. A VIETNAM EXPERIENCE: Ten Years of Reflection, by James Stockdale
11. OTHER CLAY: A Remembrance of the World War II Infantry, by Charles R. Cawthon
12. AT EASE: Stories I Tell to Friends, by Dwight Eisenhower
13. CRUSADE IN EUROPE: A Personal Account of World War II, by Dwight D. Eisenhower
14. IN LOVE AND WAR: The Story of a Family’s Ordeal and Sacrifice During the Vietnam Years, by James and Sybil Stockdale
15. THE WISDOM OF CROWDS, by James Surowiecki
16. THE CAINE MUTINY, by Herman Wouk
17. TRIBE: On Homecoming and Belonging, by Sebastian Junger

Partnerships

1. SAFE PASSAGE, by Kori Schake
2. A WORLD IN DISARRAY: American Foreign Policy and the Crisis of the Old Order, by Richard Haass
3. PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE AMERICAS: Western Hemisphere Strategy and U.S. Southern Command, by James Stavridis
4. ASIA’S CAULDRON: The South China Sea and the End of a Stable Pacific, by Robert D. Kaplan
5. WORLD ORDER, by Henry Kissinger
6. THE REVENGE OF GEOGRAPHY: What the Map Tells Us About Coming Conflicts and the Battle Against Fate, by Robert D. Kaplan
7. THE GRAND CHESSBOARD: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives, by Zbigniew Brzezinski
8. THE PARADOX OF AMERICAN POWER: Why the World’s Only Superpower Can’t Go It Alone, by Joseph S. Nye, Jr.
9. ON CHINA, by Henry Kissinger