Marine Corps Reading List

Updated: 27 December 2007

The following list is based on the USMC Professional Reading Program.

Private to Lance Corporal

First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps by LtGen Krulak [VE23 .K78 1984] and [VE23 .K78 1999]
MCDP 1 Warfighting [U133.U55 W274] and PDF from MCU
A Message to Garcia by Elbert Hubbard [BJ1611 .H8 1982]
Rifleman Dodd by C.S. Forster [PR6011.O56 R54 1996]
The Soldier’s Load by S.L.A. Marshall [UC463.M3 1965]
The Ugly American by Lederer and Burdick [PS3562.E3U45]
Ender's Game by O.S. Card [PS3553.A655 E5 1991] and [PS3553.A655 E5 1994]

First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps by LtGen Krulak [VE23 .K78 1984] and [VE23 .K78 1999]
MCWP 6-11 Leading Marines PDF from MCU
Battle Leadership by Adolph Von Schell [D531 .S27 1999]
Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley [D767.99.I9 B73 2000]
Gates Of Fire: An Epic Novel Of The Battle Of Thermopylae by Steven Pressfield [PS3566.R3944 G38]
Imperial Grunts by Robert D. Kaplan [U52 .K37 2005]
Small-Unit Leaders' Guide to Counterinsurgency PDF from MCU

First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps by LtGen Krulak [VE23 .K78 1984] and [VE23 .K78 1999]
MCDP 1-3 Tactics PDF from MCU
The Art of War by Sun Tzu [U101 .S9513]
Tip of the Spear by Sgt G. J. Michaels [DS79.72 .M483 1998]
Infantry Attacks! by Erwin Rommel [D532.3.R6513]
With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa by E.B. Sledge [D 767.99 P4 S55]
The Village by Francis West [DS557.A69W46]

First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps by LtGen Krulak [VE23 .K78 1984] and [VE23 .K78 1999]
MCDP 1-2 Campaigning PDF from MCU
This Kind of War by T.R. Fehrenbach [DS918.F37]
Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose [D769.347 506th]
The Face of Battle by John Keegan [D25.K43]
A Bell for Adano by John Hersey [PS3515.E7715 B44]
Utmost Savagery : the Three Days of Tarawa by Joseph H. Alexander [D767.917 .A48 1995]

First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps by LtGen Krulak [VE23 .K78 1984] and [VE23 .K78 1999]
MCDP 5 Planning PDF from MCU
The Savage Wars of Peace by Max Boot [E181 .B728]
We Were Soldiers Once and Young by Moore and Galloway [DS557.8.I18M66]
On Combat : the Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace by Dave Grossman with Loren W. Christensen [On Order]
Breakout by Martin Russ [DS918.2.C35 R87]
Victory at High Tide by Robert Heinl [DS918.2.I5H4]

First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps by LtGen Krulak [VE23 .K78 1984] and [VE23 .K78 1999]
MCDP 1-1 Strategy PDF from MCU
Reminiscences of a Marine by John A. Lejeune [E182 .L53]
Fields of Battle by John Keegan [E46 .K44]
Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence [D568.4.L4 1938]
On Killing : the Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society by Dave Grossman [U22.3 .G76 1995]
Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era by James M. McPherson [E173.O94 Vol 6]

First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps by LtGen Krulak [VE23 .K78 1984] and [VE23 .K78 1999]
The General by C.S. Forester [PR6011.O56G4]
No Bended Knee by Merill Twining [D767.98 .T95]
Achilles in Vietnam : Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character by Jonathan Shay [RC550 .S53 1994]
The Mask of Command by John Keegan [UB210.K44]
The Arab Mind by R. Patai [DS36.77.P37]

First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps by LtGen Krulak [VE23 .K78 1984] and [VE23 .K78 1999]
MCDP 1 Warfighting PDF from MCU
The Armed Forces Officer by S.L.A. Marshall [U133 .A553] and [Online Access]
A Message to Garcia by Elbert Hubbard [BJ1611 .H8 1982]
Rifleman Dodd by C.S. Forster [PR6011.O56 R54 1996]
The Soldier’s Load by S.L.A. Marshall [UC463.M3 1965]
Ender's Game by O.S. Card [PS3553.A655 E5 1991] and [PS3553.A655 E5 1994]

First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps by LtGen Krulak [VE23 .K78 1984] and [VE23 .K78 1999]
MCWP 6-11 Leading Marines PDF from MCU
Fields of Fire by James Webb [PS3573.E1955F5]
The Art of War by Sun Tzu [U101 .S9513]
The Anatomy of Courage by Baron Charles Moran [U21.M7]
On Infantry by John English & Bruce Gudmundsson [UD145 .E53 1994]
Small-Unit Leaders' Guide to Counterinsurgency PDF from MCU
The Soldier’s Load by S.L.A. Marshall [UC463.M3 1965]

First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps by LtGen Krulak [VE23 .K78 1984] and [VE23 .K78 1999]
The Bridge at Dong Ha by John Miller [DS557.8.D66 M55]
The Face of Battle by John Keegan [D25.K43]
Reminiscences of a Marine by John A. Lejeune [E182 .L53]
Counterinsurgency Warfare; Theory and Practice by David Galula [U240.G3] and [Online, USNA Only]
Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era by James M. McPherson [E173.O94 Vol 6]

First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps by LtGen Krulak [VE23 .K78 1984] and [VE23 .K78 1999]
For the Common Defense by Millet and Maslowski [E181.M6986]
The Mask of Command by John Keegan [UB210.K44]
The Savage Wars of Peace by Max Boot [E181 .B728]
On Combat : the Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace by Dave Grossman with Loren W. Christensen [On Order]
The Arab Mind by R. Patai [DS36.77.P37]

First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps by LtGen Krulak [VE23 .K78 1984] and [VE23 .K78 1999]
Once an Eagle by Anton Myrer [PS3563.Y74 O5]
The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman [D530.T8]
The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides (“The Landmark” version by Strassler recommended) [DF229.T55 C7]
The Lexus and the Olive Tree by Thomas L. Friedman [HF1359 .F74 1999]
Grant Takes Command by Bruce Catton [E672.C295]

First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps by LtGen Krulak [VE23 .K78 1984] and [VE23 .K78 1999]
Masters of War by Michael I. Handel [U27 .H36]
Supplying War by Martin Van Creveld [U168.V36]
Carnage and culture : landmark battles in the rise of Western power by Victor Davis Hanson [D25.5 .H25 2001]
Defeat into Victory by William Slim [D767.6.S5]
Triumph Forsaken : the Vietnam War, 1954-1965 by Mark Moyar [DS557.7 .M77 2006]

First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps by LtGen Krulak [VE23 .K78 1984] and [VE23 .K78 1999]
Dereliction of Duty : Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the lies that led to Vietnam by H. R. McMaster [DS558 .M43 1997]
Supreme Command : Soldiers, Statesmen, and Leadership in Wartime by Eliot Cohen [JF 195 C65]
Diplomacy by Henry Kissinger [JX1662.K57]
Feeding Mars : logistics in Western warfare from the Middle Ages to the present by John Lynn [U168.F44 1993]
The Crisis of Islam : Holy War and Unholy Terror by Bernard Lewis [BP182 .L48 2003]

Nimitz Library - USNA
Comments and suggestions: Systems Librarian