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
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