The Commandant of the Marine Corps has prescribed a list of books that he felt were important for Marines to read. The list is divided into sections based on rank. Marines are expected to read at least two books per year from this list. The lessons learned from the books can be used to become better leaders both in and out of The Corps.
If the title of the book has a hyperlink, then you can follow that to purchase the book online from Barnes & Noble.
Corporal, Sergeant 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
Staff Sergeant, Warrant Officer-1, Chief Warrant Officer-2, Chief Warrant Officer-3, Second Lieutenant, First Lieutenant 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
Gunnery Sergeant, Master Sergeant, First Sergeant, Chief Warrant Officer-4, Captain 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
Chief Warrant Officer-5, Major 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
Master Gunnery Sergeant, Sergeant Major, Lieutenant Colonel 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
Colonel 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