SWJ Book List (Updated)

Our favorites via SWJ's Amazon Associates Program. Buy a great book here and we get some pocket change to help keep the lights on. Your favorite not here? Give us the title in the comments section below and we'll get the code and add 'em on. Help us build the SWJ book list from hell. Also see our movie list here.

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I'll provide some more additions from my obscure bookshelf using the same format with MTF...Hopefully, this post will encourage others to read and send SWJ some much needed money.

For the combat advisor and intel analyst,

Flags of our Fathers
James Bradley

Once an Eagle
Anton Meyer

A Guide to the Study and Use of Military History
John E. Jessup, Robert W. Coakley

Killer Angels
Michael Shaara

Flyboys
James Bradley

Boots on the Ground
Karl Zinsmeister

LRRP Company Command: The Cav's LRP/Rangers in Vietnam 1968-1969
Kregg, P. J. Jorgenson

The 21 Irrefutible Laws of Leadership
John C. Maxwell

How to make friends and influence people
Dale Carnegie

For perseverence

Into Thin Air
Jon Krakauer

For the anthropologist,

Carnage and Culture
Victor David Hansen

A long way gone: Memoir of a boy soldier
Ishmael Beah

Faith and Nation: Dialogues with Sikh Militants
Cynthia Kepley Mahmood

A Thousand Splendid Suns
Khaled Huseein

For the NGO caregivers,

Stones into Schools
Greg Mortenson

West of Kabul, East of New York
Tamim Ansary

The Kite Runner
Khaled Huseein

For the strategist

Influence: the phsychology of Persuasion
Robert B. Cialdini

(My favorite for quotes by a journalist nonetheless...go figure :))
The 33 Strategies of War
Robert Greene

Strategic Denial and Deception
Roy Godson and James Wirtz

Flawed by Design: the evolution of the CIA, JCS, AND NSC
Amy Zegart

Hunting down Saddam: the inside story of the hunt and capture
Robin Moore

For the Design Folks,

Conceptual Blockbusting: A Guide to Better Ideas
James L. Adams

Atlas Shrugged
Ayn Rand

The Wealth of Nations
Adam Smith

Essays and Poems by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Sling and the Stone
COL Thommas X. Hammes

Guest of the Ayatollah
Mark Bowden

For those sorting through issues after deployment,

(I have issues with this one as with the other Grossman work)
Downrange to Iraq and Back
Bridget C Catrell and Chuck Dean

Silence Was a Weapon has been reprinted as Stalking the Viet Cong. It is still just as good regardless of the title.

"War Comes To Long An" by Jeffery Race

"The Air Campaign" by Col. John Warden

"Winning In Fast Time" by Col. John Warden

"The Defense Of Duffer's Drift" by cain't remember

Starbuck wrote: "T.E. Lawrence's Seven Pillars is a good one, as are other works."

I just tried reading this book and sent it back to the library yesterday. Do you know if there is some type of revision by someone where I can read about Lawrence without having to read his thick prose? Apologies to the intellectuals here, but the prose drove me up the friggin' wall.

I am interested in Lawrence as I do work in Saudi Araba for clients, and I am very much drawn due to his motorcycle endeavors and exploits, being an avid rider myself. I understand the motorcycle he was killed on has been recently restored and is now on display in the UK. I may buy a die-cast model of it.

Never mind, saw Seven Pillars hiding from me in your list...

Thanks all, great suggestions, all added above - Dave D.

T.E. Lawrence's Seven Pillars is a good one, as are other works.

If you're going to use Seven Pillars, though, this is the best version (the 1922 edit)

Also try this one:

Lawrence in War and Peace

Excellent start. I'd recommend the following,

For the combat advisor and intel analyst,

The Village War
William R. Andrews

Once a Warror King
David Donovan

For the anthropologist,

Friend by Day, Enemy by NIght: Organized Vengeance in a Kohistani Community
Lincoln Keiser

For the NGO caregivers,

Three Cups of Tea
Greg Mortenson

For the strategist,

Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis
Graham Allison and Philip Zelikow

For the Design Folks,

How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas
David Bornstein

For those sorting through issues after deployment,

Courage After Fire
Keith Armstrong

These books may no longer be in print but they have great relevance for Afghanistan:

"Silence Was A Weapon: The Vietnam War In The Villages" by Stuart Herrington

"Slow Burn: The Rise And Bitter Fall Of American Intelligence in Vietnam" by Orrin Deforest

The Green Berets by Robin Moore

Excellent start. I'd recommend adding,

For the Combat Advisor and Intelligence Analyst:

The Village War: Vietnamese Communist Revolutionary Activities in Dinh Tuong Province, 1960-1964
William R. Andrews

http://www.amazon.com/Village-War-Vietnamese-Revolutionary-Activities/d…

For the NGO caregivers:

Three Cups of Tea
Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_17?url=search-alias%3Dstripboo…

For the Strategist:

Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis
Graham Allison and Phillip Zelikow

http://www.amazon.com/Essence-Decision-Explaining-Missile-Crisis/dp/032…

For the Design Folks:

How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas
David Bornstein

http://www.amazon.com/How-Change-World-Entrepreneurs-Updated/dp/0195334…

For the anthropologist:

Friend by Day, Enemy by Night: Organized Vengeance in a Kohistan Community
Lincoln Keiser

http://www.amazon.com/Friend-Day-Enemy-Night-Anthropology/dp/0030533325…

For those sorting through overcoming issues after deployment:

Courage After Fire: Coping Strategies for Troops Returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and Their Families

http://www.amazon.com/Courage-After-Fire-Strategies-Afghanistan/dp/1569…

Uncomfortable Wars Revisited by John T. Fishel & Max G. Manwaring

Insurgency, Terrorism & Crime: Shadows From the Past and Portents for the Future by Max G. Manwaring

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