Modern Marine Corps Reading List

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The first titles are the Modern Marine Corps Reading List. This list is different from the official Professional Marine Corps reading list, which you can find by scrolling down to the bottom of the page.

TO PURCHASE ANY OF THE TITLES BELOW, CLICK ON THE COVER

An American Knight: The Life of Colonel John W. Ripley, United States Marine Corps

American Knight is the story of John Walter Ripley (June 29, 1939–October 28, 2008), a United States Marine Corps officer who received the Navy Cross for his actions in combat during the Vietnam War. On Easter morning 1972, Ripley dangled for three hours under a bridge in order to attach 500 pounds of explosives to the span, ultimately destroying it. His action, conducted under enemy fire while going back and forth for materials, definitively thwarted an onslaught by 20,000 enemy troops and was the subject of a book, The Bridge at Dong Ha , by Colonel John Grider Miller. His body taxed to its extreme limits, his action is considered one of the greatest examples of concentration under fire in the annals of U.S. military history. It also delayed NVA forces from taking Saigon for another three years.

Later in his career, he earned the “Quad Body” distinction for making it through four of the toughest military training programs in the world: the Army Rangers, Marine reconnaissance, Army Airborne and Britain’s Royal Marines, according to Miller’s book. He was also the only Marine officer to be inducted in the U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame. Ripley retired from the Marine Corps in 1992 after 35 years of active duty service. His story is marine corps reading list required reading for academy students, and should be for all modern Marines!

The Few and the Proud: Marine Corps Drill Instructors in Their Own Words

This book provides us with a series of interviews with Marines, most of whom are current or former drill instructors, and offers a multifaceted, personal history of the Marine Corps and its training methods since WWII. Alongside a host of distinguished Marines, several celebrities who spent time in the corps are featured, including R. Lee Ermey, the actor and technical adviser who portrayed the ultimate drill instructor in Stanley Kubrick’s Vietnam epic Full Metal Jacket; former New York City Mayor David Dinkins, who served for 13 months in 1945 and 1946; and the late photographer Eddie Adams, who honed his skills behind the camera as a combat photographer in the Korean War.

Smith (Beyond Glory) lets the Marines do most of the talking and chimes in with explanatory essays on the nuts and bolts of boot camp life. While nearly all of the Marines’ comments are positive, Smith also includes details about the legendary 1956 Ribbon Creek training incident, in which seven recruits drowned during an ill-advised night march. He offers perspectives on the Marines’ acceptance of African-Americans following WWII and its treatment of females in the past 60 years. Former Marines and military buffs will find much to pique their interest. Marine corps reading list requirement for all those planning on enlisting!

Its worthy of note that this book was written by a Marine, so its only natural that it would appear on our list. Long hailed as one of the greatest books on the Battle of Thermopylae, the inspiration for the movie 300, and included on the Marine Corps reading list for all E-1 to E-3 personnel,

Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae

is a terrifying spectacle of classical infantry battle. Driven to understand the courage and sacrifice of his Greek foes, the Persian king, Xerxes, compels Xeones, a captured Greek slave, to explain why the Greeks would give their lives to fight against overwhelming odds.

Xeones’ tale covers his years of training and adventure as the loyal and devoted servant of Dienekes, a noble Spartan soldier, and he describes the six-day ordeal during which a few hundred Greeks held off thousands of Persian spears and arrows, until a Greek traitor led the Persians to an alternate route. Rich with historical detail, hot action and crafty storytelling, Pressfield’s riveting story reveals the social and political framework of Spartan life ending with the hysteria and brutality of the spear-thrusting, shield-bashing clamor that defined a Spartan’s relationship with his family, community, country and fellow warriors. – Publishers Weekly

Infantry Attacks

Rommel’s war diaries, Infanterie greift, or Infantry Attacks were published in 1937 and became a highly regarded military textbook that attracted the attention of Adolf Hitler, who placed Rommel in charge of the German Panzer Division where he earned his infamy as the “Desert Fox”. This manual examined many battles he fought in during WWI, goes over what he learned from each battle, and became a must read for both German and allied commanders during WWII. Today, Infantry Attacks provides valuable tactical insight and battle truths that can be applied for wars yet to come. Marine Corps reading list – Staff Non Commissioned Officers and above.

Vom Krieg

On War is one of the most important treatises on strategy ever written, and is prescribed for both the Marine Corps reading list and at various military academies to this day. Among many strands of thought, three stand out as essential to Clausewitz’s concept:

• “War must never be seen as a purpose to itself, but as a means of physically forcing one’s will on an opponent (“War is not merely a political act, but also a real political instrument, a continuation of political commerce, a carrying out of the same by other means.”)
• “The military objectives in war that support one’s political objectives fall into two broad types: “war to achieve limited aims” and war to “disarm” the enemy: “to render [him] politically helpless or militarily impotent.”
• “The course of war will tend to favor the party employing more force and resources (a notion extended by Germany’s leaders in World War One into “total war”.

Even though he’s been dead for over a century and a half, he remains the most frequently cited, the most controversial, and in many respects the most modern of all strategic theorists. As a family of war fighters, all Marines should familiarize themselves with his work and its practical applications in this day and age.

Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way

This great book made our reading list for Marines that are planning on pursuing a professional civilian career, or wishing to advance in careers they have already landed. Topics of focus include recruitment, training, supervision, managements and strategies.

With the same hard-charging attitude that the Corps is known for, Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way offers principles such as market supremacy, employee training as a hands-on approach that covers every aspect of what the new employee will be required to do, and “dedication over decoration” when it comes to new hires. A great professional development read!

Making the Corps

Making the Corps is less a blow-by-blow account of United States Marine Corps boot camp than a cultural study of the “Marine Corps Way.” Though there are plenty of screaming drill instructors and shaking-in-their-boots recruits to give you the “thank goodness it’s not me” feeling, Thomas Ricks’ tale of platoon 3086 and its 11 weeks of basic training goes beyond reporting. He analyzes how 65 young men are transformed not into soldiers but Marines, examining that important distinction, which is pounded into the recruits’ brains from the moment they step off the bus at Parris Island, South Carolina.

When all is said and done, and Platoon 3086 graduates from basic training, Ricks becomes his most critical. Instead of leaving us with the glory of their graduation parade, he follows some of the new Marines beyond the gates of Parris Island, where many become disgusted with civilian life, and even with the Marine Corps itself, as they re-discover that the outside world is not the pristine cultural bubble of Parris Island. While Ricks’ book is ostensibly about the experience of the Marine recruit, his solid research of Corps’ history leaves the reader with full understanding the Marine Corps

Here is the Official Marine Corps Reading List for 2012, divided by rank

Marine Corps Reading List: Pvt, PFC, LCpl

Rifleman Dodd by Forester
Starship Troopers by Heinlein
Message to Garcia by Hubbard
The Bridge at Dong-Ha by Miller
U.S. Marines: 1775-1975 by Simmons
U.S. Constitution
Fields of Fire by Webb

Marine Corps Reading List: Cpl, Sgt

The War of the Running Dogs: The Malayan Emergency, 1498-1962 by Barber
The Old Man’s Trail by Campbell
Ender’s Game by Card
Uncommon Men: Sergeants Major of the Marine Corps by Chapin
Red Badge of Courage by Crane
Marine!: The Life of LtGen Lewis B. (Chesty) Puller, USMC (Ret) by Davis
Fire in the Streets: The Battle for Hue, Tet, 1968 by Hammel
Strong Men Armed: The United States Marines Against Japan by Leckie
The Buffalo Soldiers: A Narrative of the Negro Calvary in the West by Leckie
Soldier’s Load and the Mobility of a Nation by Marshall
The Right Kind of War by McCormick
Battle Leadership by Von Schell
The Defense of Duffer’s Drift by Swinton
Fix Bayonets! by Thomason
Battle Cry by Uris

Marine Corps Reading List: SSgt, WO-1, CWO-2, CWO-3, 2ndLt, 1stLt

Band of Brothers: E Co., 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne: From Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle Nest by Ambrose
Pegasus Bridge: June 6, 1944 by Ambrose
War in the Shadows: The Guerrilla in History by Asprey
Common Sense Training: A Working Philosophy for Leaders by Collins
On Infantry by English & Gudmundsson
Grant & Lee: A Study in Personality and Generalship by Fuller
How We Won the War by Giap
American Gunboat Diplomacy and the Old Navy, 1877-1889 by Hagan
Acts of War: The Behavior of Men in Battle by Holmes
Flights of Passage: Reflections of a World War II Aviator by Hynes
The Face of Battle by Keegan
Terrorism Reader: A Historical Anthology by Laquer & Alexander
Strategy Liddell by Hart
Maneuver Warfare Handbook by Lind
The Middle Parts of Fortune: Somme and Ancre, 1916 by Manning
We Were Soldiers Once and Young: Ia Drang, the Battle that Changed the War in Vietnam by Moore & Galloway
The U.S. Marine Corps Story by Moskin
The Military: More than Just a Job by Moskos
Operation Buffalo: USMC Fight for the DMZ by Nolan
Challenge of Command: Reading for Military Excellence by Nye
Attacks by Rommel
Iwo Jima: Legacy of War by Ross
The Forgotten Soldier: The Classic WWII Autobiography by Sajer
Firepower in Limited War by Scales
The Killer Angels by Shaara
Tarawa: The Story of a Battle by Sherrod
Falls of Eagles by Sulzberg
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
U.S. Constitution
Unaccustomed to Fear: A Biography of the Late General Roy S. Gieger, United States Marine Corps by Willock

Marine Corps Reading List: GySgt, MSgt, 1stSgt, CWO-4, Capt

Battle Studies: Ancient and Modern Battle by Ardant du Picq
Guerrilla Strategies: A Historical Anthology from the Long March to Afghanistan by Chailand
The Breaking Point: Sedan and the Fall of France, 1940 by Doughty
Street Without Joy by Fall
Profession of Arms by Hackett
Battle for the Falklands by Hastings
Victory at High Tide: The Inchon Seoul Campaign by Heinl
The War of the American Independence: Military Attitudes, Policies, and Practice by Higginbotham
Once a Lengend: Red Mike Edson of the Marine Raiders by Hoffman
Maneuver Warfare: An Anthology by Hooker
Price of Glory: Verdun 1916 by Horne
Infantry in Battle (U.S.) Infantry by School
The U.S. Marines and Amphibious War: Its Theory, and its Practice in the Pacific by Isley & Crowl
The Price of Admiralty: The Evolution of Naval Warfare by Keegan
First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps by Krulak
The Dynamics of Doctrine: The Changes in German Tactical Doctrine During the First World War by Lupfer
Reminiscences by MacArthur
Company Commander by MacDonald
Mao Tse-Tung on Guerrilla Warfare by Mao Tse-Tung
Defense of Hill 781 by McDonough
Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era by McPherson
Panzer Battles: A Study of the Employment of Armor in the Second World War by Mellenthin
Company Command: The Bottom Line by Meyer
Semper Fidelis: The History of the United States Marine Corps by Millett
For the Common Defense: A Military History of the United States of America by Millett & Maslowski
Gallipoli by Moorehead
The Anatomy of Courage by Moran
Once an Eagle by Myer
Small Wars Manual by NAVMC 2890
Follow Me, Human Element in Leadership by Newman
No Victory, No Vanquished: Yom Kippur War by O’Ballance
History of U.S. Military Logistics, 1935-1985; A Brief Review by Peppers
Fortunate Son: The Autobiography of Lewis B. Puller, Jr. by Puller
Landscape Turned Red: The Battle of Antietam by Sears
With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa by Sledge
Douglas Southall Freeman on Leadership by Smith
On Strategy: A Critical Analysis of the Vietnam War by Summers
The Easter Offensive, Vietnam, 1972 by Turley
Airpower & Maneuver Warfare by Van Creveld

Marine Corps Reading List: CWO-5, Maj

Morale: A Study of Men and Courage by Baynes
Grant Takes Command by Catton
On War by Clausewitz
Patton: A Genius for War by D’Este
Hell in a Very Small Place: The Seige of Dien Bien Phu by Fall
This Kind of War: A Study in Unpreparedness by Fehrenbach
Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account by Frank
Knight’s Cross: A Life of Field Marshall Erwin Rommel by Fraser
Forward Into Battle: Fighting Tactics from Waterloo to Vietnam by Griffith
Che Guevara on Guerrilla Warfare by Guevara
Chosin: Heroic Ordeal of the Korean War by Hammel
George Washington & The American Military Tradition by Higginbotham
Reminiscences of a Marine by Lejeune
U.S. Marine Corps Aviation: 1912 to the Present by Mersky
Makers of Modern Strategy: From Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age by Paret
At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor by Prange
Dieppe: The Shame and the Glory by Robertson
It Doesn’t Take A Hero by Schwarzkopf
History of Marine Corps Aviation in WWII by Sherrod
A People Numerous & Armed: Reflections on the Military Struggle for American Independence by Shy
Defeat Into Victory by Slim
Eagle Against The Sun: The American War With Japan by Spector
Command in War by Van Creveld
Supplying War: Logistics From Wallenstein to Patton by Van Creveld

Marine Corps Reading List: MGySgt, SgtMaj, LtCol

One Hundered Years of Seapower: The U.S. Navy, 1890-1990 by Bear
Ultra in the West: The Normandy Campaign, 1944-1945 by Bennett
The Quiet Warrior: A Biography of Admiral Raymond A. Spruance by Buell
The Generals’ War: The Inside Story of the Conflict in the Gulf by Gordon & Trainor
The Years of MacArthur by James
The U.S. Marine Corps and Defense Unification 1944-1947: The Politics of Survival by Keiser
Eagle and Sword: The Federalists and the Creation of the Military Establishment in America by Kohn
The Army in Vietnam by Krepinevich
Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant by Long
In Many a Strife: General Gerald C. Thomas and the U.S. Marines Corps, 1917-1956 by Millet
The Making of Strategy by Murray
Follow Me II: More on the Human Element in Leadership by Newman
Moving Mountains: Lessons in Leadership and Logistics from the Gulf War by Pagonis
How the War was Won by Travers
Take That Hill: Royal Marines in the Falklands War by Vaux
The Enlightened Soldier: Scharnhorst and the Militarische Gesellschaft in Berlin, 1801-1805 by White
100 Days: The Memoirs of the Falklands by Woodard

Marine Corps Reading List: Col

The Supreme Commander: The War Years of General Dwight D. Eishenhower by Ambrose
Foundation of Moral Obligation: The Stockdale Course by Brennan
The Campaigns of Napoleon by Chandler
Military Misfortunes: The Anatomy of Failure in War by Cohen
General of the Army: George C. Marshall, Soldier and Statesman by Cray
Seeds of Disaster: The Development of French Army Doctrine, 1919-1939 by Doughty
Logistics in the National Defense by Eccles
War Secerts in the Ether: The Use of Signals Intelligence by the German Military in WWII by Flicke
The General by Forester
From Beirut to Jerusalem by Friedman
A Savage War of Peace: Algeria, 1954-1962 by Horne
To Lose a Battle: France, 1940 by Horne
The Rise and Fall of British Naval Mastery by Kennedy
Military Innovation in the Interwar Period by Millett & Murray
Luftwaffe by Murray
A Democracy at War: America’s Fight at Home and Abroad in WWII by O’Neil
The 25-Year War: America’s Military Role in Vietnam by Palmer
Nimitz by Potter
Korean War by Ridgeway
A Bridge Too Far by Ryan
The Marine Corps Search For a Mission 1880-1898 by Shulimson
Race to the Swift: Thoughts on Twenty First Century Warfare by Simpkin
Pershing, General of the Armies by Smythe
The Peloponnesian War by Thucydides
The Killing Ground: The Battle Army, The Western Front, & the Emergence of Modern Warfare by Travers
Our Great Spring Victory: An Account of the Liberation of South Vietnam by Van Tien Dung
Once a Marine: The Memoirs of General A. A. Vandergrift, USMC by Vandergrift
Eisenhower’s Lieutenants: The Campaign of France and Germany, 1944-1945 by Weigly

Marine Corps Reading List: BGen, MajGen, LtGen, Gen

Lejeune: A Marine’s Life, 1867-1942 by Bartlett
Generalship, Its Diseases and Their Cure: A Study of the Personal Factor in Command by Fuller
The Best and the Brightest by Halberstam
On the Origins of War and the Preservation of Peace by Kagan
The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500-2000 by Kennedy
Diplomacy by Kissenger
GIAP: The Victor in Vietnam by MacDonald
In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam by McNamara
A Woman at War: Storming Kuwait with the U.S. Marines by Moore
Airwar in the Persian Gulf by Murray
FOLLOW ME III: Lessons on the Art and Science of High Command by Newman
My American Journey by Powell
Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman by Royster
Maverick Marine: General Smedley Butler and the Contradictions of American Military History by Schmidt
A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam by Sheehan
The Nightingale’s Song by Timberg
No Bended Knee by Twining