{"id":10144,"date":"2015-12-23T07:31:07","date_gmt":"2015-12-23T13:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hcstx.org\/?p=10144"},"modified":"2015-12-23T07:31:07","modified_gmt":"2015-12-23T13:31:07","slug":"war-on-the-rocks-2015-holiday-reading-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/2015\/12\/23\/war-on-the-rocks-2015-holiday-reading-list\/","title":{"rendered":"War on the Rocks 2015 Holiday Reading List"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Some real gems in this list..definitely worth a look and read. -SF<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"santa<\/p>\n

We are a little tardy with this year\u2019s holiday reading list, but there is still time for Santa (or Amazon) to get these books to you or your loved ones in time! Please see what our contributors think you should be reading this holiday season.<\/p>\n

B.J. Armstrong (<\/strong>@WWATMD<\/strong><\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Toward a New Maritime Strategy: American Naval Thinking in the Post-Cold War Era<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>Peter Haynes<\/p>\n

(Read B.J.\u2019s review of Toward a New Maritime Strategy <\/em>here at War on the Rocks<\/em><\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Realpolitik: A History<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>John Bew<\/p>\n

David Barno (<\/strong>@DWBarno76<\/strong><\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Past as Prologue:<\/em> The Importance of History to the Military Profession<\/em><\/a>, eds. Williamson Murray and Richard Hart Sinnreich<\/p>\n

Supreme Command<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> Eliot Cohen<\/p>\n

Matt Cavanaugh (<\/strong>@MLCavanaugh<\/strong><\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction<\/em><\/a>, Philip Tetlock and Dan Gardner<\/p>\n

I was thoroughly rewarded for packing this to read on a ten-hour flight; the page count doubled owing to the Post-It notes crammed everywhere. I\u2019ve followed Tetlock\u2019s work on judgment quite some time, particularly as it relates to my own writing on military genius and supreme command. The book reports the long-term, Intelligence Advance Research Projects Agency-funded results of the Good Judgment Project<\/a> \u2013 a forecasting tournament Tetlock and his team used to tease out lessons from the brightest and the best. I could drone on and on about this book\u2019s utility, but I\u2019ll leave readers with a short, practical example. I was recently recommended an essay, \u201cThe Middle East as It Will Be,\u201d<\/a> by Eliot Cohen. As the title suggests, this is essentially a written forecast. And in the opening lines, the hedging begins: \u201cIt is safe to predict that\u2026\u201d Cohen may be talented, but, armed with Superforecasting<\/em>, it is safe to predict that Cohen\u2019s essay is the Middle East as it won\u2019t<\/em> be. Tetlock\u2019s book will help you cut through similarly uninsightful forecasts, a powerful stocking stuffer for anyone charged with duties in international politics.<\/p>\n

Seeing What Others Don\u2019t: The Remarkable Ways We Gain Insights<\/em><\/a>, Gary Klein<\/p>\n

I picked this book up in the Yale Bookstore, which makes it 10% smarter (and 50% more expensive). That hefty cost was worth it for one, single page \u2013 four<\/em> \u2013 in which Klein sets out a formula: Performance Improvement = Reduce Errors + Increase Insights. Working in the world\u2019s largest company<\/a> as I do \u2013 the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) \u2013 it\u2019s hard not to notice that we tend to focus on driving errors down (\u201czero defects\u201d and \u201cno fail\u201d) and regularly starve novel ideas of oxygen. The challenge is appropriately balancing the two, particularly as DoD implements sweeping personnel reforms<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Back of the Napkin<\/em><\/a>; Show and Tell<\/em><\/a>; and Blah Blah Blah: What To Do When Words Don\u2019t Work<\/em><\/a>, Dan Roam<\/p>\n

As a U.S. Army Strategist, my core competency is to anticipate, design, and facilitate strategic decisions. I set the table for senior leaders; I aid their judgments. To do this well, I need bright ideas (the lightbulb) and effective communications (the megaphone). This is where Roam\u2019s books come in. Humans have communicated with pictures for an awfully long time; before we could write, we drew. Drawings remain a powerful tool in the arsenal of the modern strategist \u2013 images convince, convey, and communicate. Dickens said<\/a>, \u201cMake me see,\u201d and a documentary on the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough was titled, \u201cPainting With Words.\u201d <\/a>Roam\u2019s books will help you do both.<\/p>\n

Loren DeJonge Schulman (<\/strong>@LorenRaeDeJ<\/strong><\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since a new (first) baby arrived in my life in earlier this year, my reading lifestyle quickly shifted to short form, with short form often comprising Twitter at best. \u00a0The denser fare of years past took a backseat to whatever I could read bleary-eyed at\u00a03AM. \u00a0But I\u2019ve still managed to absorb a number of defense and foreign policy lessons this year from unexpected sources (and want to give significant credit to my friend Matan Chorev, who also welcomed a little one earlier this year).<\/p>\n

Little Blue Truck<\/em><\/a>, Alice Schertle<\/p>\n

A story about smart power \u2013 why building coalitions and acting as benevolent hegemon is more effective than unipolar and imperial behavior. Little Blue Truck is America at its best \u2013 the dump truck is what Putin\/Xi look like to their neighbors.<\/p>\n

Goodnight Moon<\/em><\/a>, Margaret Wise Brown<\/p>\n

An early guide to intelligence preparation of the battlespace, in which one painstakingly identifies and categorizes all matter of items one must say goodnight to, once the little old lady has said, for the thousandth time, hush.<\/p>\n

The Giant Jam Sandwich<\/em><\/a>, John Vernon Lord<\/p>\n

A masterpiece of grand strategy.\u00a0 From building domestic support to technological superiority, wise use of resources, sensible objectives (some flies do escape), a sense of interests, importance of safeguarding values of a society, importance of economic strength, using the right tools, this will be a lifelong reference.<\/p>\n

Wolf Hall<\/em><\/a>, Hilary Mantel<\/p>\n

Historical fiction on the life of Thomas Cromwell, not technically about public service or strategy, but from which\u00a0I garner new understanding of both every time\u00a0I read it.<\/p>\n

Adam Elkus (<\/strong>@AElkus<\/strong><\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Closed World: Computers and the Politics of Discourse in Cold War America<\/em><\/a>, Paul Edwards<\/p>\n

Many know a lot about how the Cold War shaped applied research in \u201cthinking the unthinkable.\u201d What many don\u2019t know is just how much World War II and Cold War shaped research in virtually every discipline that sought to understand or automate decision-making. Cognitive psychology founder George A. Miller, for example,\u00a0produced a\u00a0classified\u00a0<\/em>PhD thesis\u00a0in 1946 under the aegis of Army research efforts. This book tells the story of how the Cold War shaped a certain shared set of metaphors that can broadly be seen in the social, behavioral, and computational sciences (among many others!).<\/p>\n

Von Neumann, Morgenstern, and the Creation of Game Theory: From Chess to Social Science 1900-1960<\/em><\/a>, Robert Leonard<\/p>\n

One of the most fascinating things about the 20th century is how the \u201cgame\u201d became a shared representation of strategy for academic researchers in the social sciences. This book tells a fascinating story of how tabletop games of strategy such as chess and kriegspiel gave way \u2014 due to both some of the most fascinating debates in mathematics and psychology as well as the harsh impact of World War II and the Cold War \u2014 to a new and qualitatively distinct view of strategic interaction.<\/p>\n

Ryan Evans (<\/strong>@EvansRyan202<\/strong><\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Realpolitik: A History<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>John Bew<\/p>\n

This book is an incredible accomplishment by one of Britain\u2019s greatest living historians, who also happens to be one of my closest friends (I swear I\u2019m not biased). Writing the history of an idea is a much greater challenge the writing a biography of a person or a narrative about a specific period or event. It is a challenge that most historians do not even attempt and when they do, the result is usually boring. Bew has not only met this challenge with his history of Realpolitik, but in doing so produced one of the most fascinating books on foreign policy of this decade. It spans the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, hopping back and forth between Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Unlike many historians, Bew does not shy away from explaining what his subject \u2013 this elusive term, Realpolitik \u2013 has to tell us about today\u2019s decisions on strategy and foreign policy. I suspect it will quickly make its way onto official reading lists and graduate curricula and become the new \u201cit\u201d book on foreign policy for the smart-set. Don\u2019t be surprised if you soon spot photos of senior British and American officials carrying this book on their way to meetings, moving from a motorcade to a helicopter.<\/p>\n

Hubris: The Tragedy of War in the 21st<\/sup> Century<\/em><\/a>, Alistair Horne<\/p>\n

The latest book by another of Britain\u2019s greatest living historians, although this one is quite a bit older and is not (yet) my friend (Sir Alistair: If you\u2019re reading this, let\u2019s be friends). I\u2019ve only just started this one, but I am already engrossed. Horne explores how hubris shaped the outcome of six battles that, in turn, shaped the world that we live in today. And I\u2019ve promised Frank Hoffman I\u2019d review this for Joint Force Quarterly<\/em> so stay tuned.<\/p>\n

Lawrence Freeman (@LawDavF<\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The German War: A Nation Under Arms, 1939-45<\/em><\/a>, by\u00a0Nicholas Stargardt<\/p>\n

A vivid and candid account of German attitudes during the Second World War.<\/p>\n

Brian Fishman (<\/strong>@BrianFishman<\/strong><\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Objective Troy<\/em><\/a>, Scott Shane<\/p>\n

Incredibly well-researched and well-written examination of Anwar al-Awlaki\u2019s radicalization, jihad, and death.<\/p>\n

Anonymous Soldiers<\/em><\/a>, Bruce Hoffman<\/p>\n

An incredibly detailed look at one of the most successful terrorist movements of modern times\u00a0\u2014\u00a0the diverse rebel fighters that created the State of Israel. This book humanizes and explains their struggle without glossing over the blood that required.<\/p>\n

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross (<\/strong>@DaveedGR<\/strong><\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

How Google Works<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg<\/p>\n

Though this book isn\u2019t directly related to foreign policy or national security, its relevance should be quite clear upon reflection. The U.S.\u2019s strategy for its fight against transnational jihadist organizations \u2014\u00a0and so many other matters \u2014\u00a0has been a complete mess. While the architects of failed U.S. policies bear their share of guilt, a more fundamental problem is that the organizational design of government doesn\u2019t empower good strategic thinking. Indeed, good strategic thinking is so disempowered in government that when I interviewed various knowledgeable professionals for my 2011 book\u00a0Bin Laden\u2019s Legacy<\/em>, most didn\u2019t even know where to start when I asked about possible reforms.\u00a0How Google Works<\/em>\u00a0demonstrates that there is a different way to structure organizations. Organizational design can be better wedded to overarching purposes and goals. Smart, competent people can be more empowered, and organizations can thrive as a result. Learning how this looks in practice in an organization like Google is only a starting point when it comes to thinking about how to overhaul a behemoth like the federal government, but a starting point is more than I felt I had before reading this book.<\/p>\n

The Modern Mercenary: Private Armies and What They Mean for World Order<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> Sean McFate<\/p>\n

McFate has written the strongest, most consequential volume discussing the role that the private sector is playing in today\u2019s wars. McFate is in a unique position \u2014\u00a0as a social scientist, and someone who has been both a military officer and also a contractor involved in overseas conflicts \u2014\u00a0to make this contribution. The relevance of understanding the role of private armies is, for better or worse, only going to grow, and McFate\u2019s book stands out as extraordinarily informed and balanced within a literature that has been decidedly mixed in quality. It\u2019s not often that a book comes along about which one can honestly say that future authors or scholars working on the topic must read it or they haven\u2019t done their job. But this is such a book, and it should be read by anybody with even a passing interest in the topic.<\/p>\n

Robert Goldich<\/strong><\/p>\n

Living and Breathing: Just Another Day in Vietnam: 27 Jun 1968<\/em><\/a>, Keith Nightingale<\/p>\n

My endorsement of the book on the back cover: \u201cA work of great literary merit and profound human insight. It captures the universal nature and essence of high-intensity infantry warfare; the warfighting skill and valor of Vietnamese soldiers on both sides; and the role and significance of American military advisers from division headquarters down to battalion level. A classic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frank Hoffman<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lessons Encountered: Learning from the Long War<\/em><\/a> Richard Hooker and Joseph Colins (eds)<\/p>\n

While admittedly prejudiced as I have a chapter in this book, but it is important that we finally began the process of assessing what we tried to achieve, and where we succeeded and where we can do better in the future. This book is not the final answer and it doesn\u2019t claim to be.<\/p>\n

Superpower: Three Choices for America\u2019s Role in the World<\/em><\/a>, Ian Bremmer<\/p>\n

I disagree with his recommended choice, but this is a great short read for debating what our role in the world should be, and what the costs and implications of that role are.<\/p>\n

Burak Kadercan <\/strong>(@BurakKadercan<\/strong><\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yankee Leviathan<\/em><\/a>, Richard Bensel<\/p>\n

Hammer and Rifle<\/em><\/a>, David Stone<\/p>\n

The Deluge<\/em><\/a>, Adam Tooze<\/p>\n

Lauren Katzenberg (<\/strong>@LKatzenberg<\/strong><\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Seveneves<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>Neal Stephenson<\/p>\n

A science fiction novel about the survival of the human race following the end of Earth and how even at our near extinction, religion and power continue to politicize humanity, bringing the surviving population to the brink of war.<\/p>\n

Relentless Strike: The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command<\/em><\/a>, Sean Naylor<\/p>\n

A great look at how JSOC evolved from a small organization with a specific and highly focused counterterrorism mission to the high optempo fighting force it is today.<\/p>\n

Sean Kay <\/strong>(@SeanKay_Rocket<\/strong><\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Restraint: A New Foundation for U.S. Grand Strategy<\/em><\/a>, Barry Posen<\/p>\n

Conflict in Ukraine: The Unwinding of the Post-Cold War Order<\/em><\/a>, Rajan Menon and Eugene Rumer<\/p>\n

Bob Killebrew<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gettysburg: The Last Invasion<\/em><\/a>, Allen Guelzo<\/p>\n

You\u2019d think everything that could be written about Gettysburg had been written, but along comes Allen C. Guelzo to put a fresh look on the battle and the commanders on each side. Beautifully written \u2014 and recommended to me by an admiral \u2014 it provides more depth on some of the historical gaps about the battle, especially Meade\u2019s acceptance of Gettysburg as the field instead of the Pipe Creek line, and Lee\u2019s movements on the critical first day. Highly recommended for the historian and casual reader alike.<\/p>\n

Terror and Consent: The Wars for the Twenty-First Century<\/em><\/a>, Philip Bobbit<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been out for some time now, but Philip Bobbit\u2019s \u201cTerror and Consent; the Wars for the Twenty-First Century\u201d is still worth reading. This is a very, very dense book that plumbs the roots of terrorism, the changing nature of the nation-state and relations with its citizens, the rule of law and the various wars \u2014 plural \u2014 against terrorism. This profound book is decidedly not for the casual reader.<\/p>\n

Tom Lynch<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War<\/em><\/a>, Peter Singer and August Cole<\/p>\n

JFK\u2019s Forgotten Crisis: Tibet, the CIA and Sino-Indian War<\/em><\/a>, Bruce Riedel<\/p>\n

David Maxwell (<\/strong>@DavidMaxwell161<\/strong><\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Assessing Revolution and Insurgent Strategies<\/em><\/p>\n

If you want to be a practitioner and strategist and operate in and develop strategy for the\u00a0Gray Zone<\/a>\u00a0in the space between peace and war and conduct political warfare<\/a>,\u00a0unconventional warfare<\/a>, and\u00a0counter-unconventional warfare<\/a>, as well as operate effectively in the\u00a0human domain<\/a>\u00a0then you must read, study, and internalize the fundamentals of revolution, resistance, and insurgency as embodied in the Assessing Revolutionary and Insurgent Strategies (ARIS) project first begun by the Special Operations Research Office (SORO<\/a>) in the 1950\u2019s and 1960\u2019s\u00a0and now continued under the direction of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory\u2019s National Security Division.\u00a0 These are available for free download at the USASOC web site.\u00a0 This is especially important now that\u00a0Section 1097<\/a>\u00a0of the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act requires the Secretary of Defense to provide a strategy for countering unconventional warfare.<\/p>\n

Assessing Revolutionary and Insurgent Strategies<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Casebook on Revolutionary and Insurgent Warfare, Vol. I: 1933-1962<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Casebook on Revolutionary and Insurgent Warfare, Vol. II: 1962-2009<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Irregular Warfare Annotated Bibliography<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Human Factors Considerations of Undergrounds in Insurgencies<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Undergrounds in Insurgent, Revolutionary and Resistance Warfare<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Myra MacDonald (<\/strong>@MyraEMacDonald<\/strong><\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Borderlines<\/em><\/a>, Michela Wrong<\/p>\n

The Arabs at War in Afghanistan<\/em><\/a>, Mustafa Hamid and Leah Farrall<\/p>\n

Bryan McGrath (<\/strong>@ConsWahoo<\/strong><\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lafayette<\/em><\/a>, Harlow Giles Unger<\/p>\n

A fascinating biography of a man who played essential roles in three revolutions, one American and two French. I came away from this read thinking that Lafayette was second only <\/em>to George Washington in ensuring the colonial victory in the American Revolution. That there is no USS LAFAYETTE in today\u2019s fleet is an error demanding of correction.<\/p>\n

Burning the Days<\/em><\/a>, James Salter<\/p>\n

A memoir by a beautifully talented writer, it includes reminiscences of his days at West Point in the 1940\u2019s and time as a fighter pilot going up against MiGs in the Korean War.<\/p>\n

Peter Munson (@peter_munson<\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scaling Up Excellence: Getting to More Without Settling for Less<\/a><\/em>, Robert L. Sutton and Huggy Rao<\/p>\n

This is a very well-regarded business book on how to spread and scale pockets of excellence to the rest of an organization. The book has great takeaways for anyone working within a large organization (or trying to scale up a small one) with plenty of takeaways for WoTR readers. The authors refer to failures and successes of the Center for Army Lessons Learned, for example, tying in other examples from business that can inform your efforts.<\/p>\n

Why Information Grows: The Evolution of Order, from Atoms to Economics<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0Cesar Hidalgo<\/p>\n

The mention of entropy caught my eye in a review of this book by PhD physicist Cesar Hidalgo. The book is about the uneven growth of information and order throughout the world and how that shapes our economies and societies. It is a great way of understanding the differences in global growth with significant analytical opportunities. The discussion of entropy and order refers to a favorite article, \u201cThe Arrow of Time\u201d by David Layzer, a piece which influenced the legendary military theorist John Boyd. This book will give anyone in the foreign policy realm some fresh ways of thinking about big global issues.<\/p>\n

Michael Rainsborough<\/strong><\/p>\n

Slim, Master of War: Burma and the Birth of Modern Warfare<\/em><\/a>, Robert Lyman<\/p>\n

A concise, nicely written biography about Gen. William Slim\u2019s campaign in Burma \u2014\u00a0the longest continuous theatre of operations in WWII \u2014\u00a0and how he turned the 14th Army into a ruthless close quarter killing machine that inflicted the biggest defeat of Japanese land forces in the war.<\/p>\n

A Savage War of Peace:\u00a0Algeria 1954-62<\/a><\/em>, Alistair Horne<\/p>\n

A return to a modern classic, originally published in 1977. Forget the latter day back cover endorsements to the reprinted 2006 edition about how it should be compulsory reading for civilian and military counter-insurgency leaders, as there are few true insights that \u2018history\u2019 can offer to the present. Simply, it is the definitive study of a brutal and tragic encounter of a deeply disturbing conflict.<\/p>\n

Iskander Rehman (@IskanderRehman<\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

France 1940: Defending the Republic<\/a><\/em>, Philip Nord<\/p>\n

For the last seven decades, the French Army\u2019s defeat at the hands of the Wehrmacht in 1940 has been portrayed not only as a massive military failure, but also as a moral judgement on the Third Republic, and on its supposed lack of preparedness and resolve in the face of the rising German threat. Both French and foreign commentators have portrayed the six-week campaign as a the fatal end-result of a protracted form of inner decay, while the Battle of France has become a text-book example of doctrinal failure in the security studies literature.<\/p>\n

The reality, however, was far more complex, argues Princeton\u2019s Philip Nord in his meticulously researched and nuanced new history. France\u2019s collapse was not due to a decadent national character, or to a lack of military preparedness.<\/p>\n

In fact, the French Army, Nord observes, had \u201ca very good chance of winning\u201d at the beginning of the war. During the six-week campaign, French troops fought bravely, losing 90,000 soldiers out of a population of 40 million. Nord does not gloss over the French Army\u2019s tactical shortcomings, or over its relative deficiencies vis a vis its German opponent, whether in radio communications, or in combined arms and maneuver warfare. At the same time, however, Nord reminds us that these failings were not unique to France, and were largely shared by its allies-and by the British Expeditionary Corps in particular-which fared equally poorly in the early stages of the war.<\/p>\n

Rather, the root causes of the disaster are to be to be found in the fateful nature of certain senior-level military decisions (Hitler\u2019s tardy embrace of the Fall Gelb, and Gamelin\u2019s failed Breda gambit), and in the startling rapidity with which Vichy supporters managed to prevail over their Republican opponents during the internal power struggle that was simultaneously unfolding away from the front lines. Had France\u2019s moderate, democratically-minded elites preserved power, the war may well have continued to be waged from France\u2019s vast North African territories.<\/p>\n

Perhaps Nord\u2019s greatest contribution is to remind us of the importance of contingency when studying historical events. After reading his balanced expose, one comes away with a clear conclusion: there was nothing predetermined about the Third Republic\u2019s military defeat, or about the victory of French anti-republican forces. Grand meta-narratives of decline and decay may prove seductive in their simplicity, but they rarely hold up to serious scrutiny.<\/p>\n

Dying Ever Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero<\/a><\/em>, James Romm<\/p>\n

James Romm, a professor of Classics at Bard College, has produced one of the finest accounts of the troubled life of Lucius Anneus Seneca, the Roman philosopher-poet who met his end at the hands of his student, the tyrannical and terrifyingly unpredictable Emperor Nero.<\/p>\n

Throughout history, Seneca has either been portrayed as a paragon of stoic virtue, or as a grotesque sycophant, whose luxurious, sybaritic lifestyle provides an example of intellectual hypocrisy on par with that of Rousseau, the French philosopher who abandoned his own children even while writing magnificent treatises on education.<\/p>\n

The appeal of Romm\u2019s book lies in its subtlety, and even-handedness, as well as in the formal elegance of its prose. Romm refuses to subject the book\u2019s subject to a posthumous trial, even though, as he notes in his introduction, he himself \u201coscillated many times between opposing judgments, sometimes in the course of a single day.\u201d The result is not only a superbly immersive account of the vicious court politics of imperial Rome \u2014 each chapter providing easily as much suspense as an episode of Game of Thrones \u2014 but also a magnificent reflection on the all-too ephemeral nature of political power and influence.<\/p>\n

Stephen Rodriguez (<\/strong>@SteveRod78<\/strong><\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Warrior Diplomat<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> Mike Waltz<\/p>\n

How Wars End<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> Gideon Rose<\/p>\n

William Rosenau (<\/strong>@WilliamRosenau<\/strong><\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stalin\u2019s Englishman: The Lives of Guy Burgess<\/em><\/a>, Andrew Lownie<\/p>\n

Drunken, louche, promiscuous, and wildly indiscreet, Guy Francis de Moncy Burgess was an improbable British spy. Most accounts of the Cambridge espionage ring that included Kim Philby, Donald Maclean, John Cairncross, and Anthony Blunt\u00a0\u2014\u00a0who Moscow dubbed the \u201cMagnificent Five\u201d\u00a0\u2014\u00a0depict Burgess as a tangential, clownish figure. Stalin\u2019s Englishman reclaims Burgess and repositions him as a central figure in one of the Cold War\u2019s most notorious espionage cases. Burgess\u2019s wit, erudition, and charm won him many friends in high places during the 1930s and 1940s and from various perches at the heart of the British establishment, including the BBC, the Foreign Office, and the intelligence services, Burgess supplied Moscow Center with thousands of classified documents. Impetuously, he defected to the Soviet Union with Donald Maclean in 1951. Unlike Maclean, he never took to life in Moscow, spending the next ten years of his life pining over the England he had betrayed and drinking himself to death. Burgess\u2019s squalid legacy helped cripple the British intelligence community and poisoned the Anglo-American intelligence relationship for years to come. Lownie\u2019s book, the product of 30 years of indefatigable research, is a magnificent achievement \u2014 Stalin\u2019s Englishman is superb history brilliantly told.<\/p>\n

Vanguard of the Imam: Religion, Politics, and Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> Afshon Ostovar<\/p>\n

Since 1979, Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards have been central to defending the revolution at home and advancing the regime\u2019s interests abroad. Vanguard of the Imam<\/em> is the first comprehensive scholarly effort to explain the origins, development, and power of an organization that has remained largely opaque. Ostovar deftly weaves Iranian history, regional politics, and Shia theology into a compelling narrative and in the process helps us understand the Guard\u2019s transformation from a scruffy militia into a formidable military, paramilitary, and intelligence force with international reach.<\/p>\n

W. Jonathan Rue (@wjrue<\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Victory on the Potomac The Goldwater-Nicholls Unifies the Pentagon<\/a><\/em>, James Locher<\/p>\n

Billy Lynn\u2019s Long Halftime Walk<\/a><\/em>, Ben Fountain<\/p>\n

Kori Schake (<\/strong>@KoriSchake<\/strong><\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Hard Thing About Hard Things<\/em><\/a>, Ben Horowitz<\/p>\n

A primer for founder CEOs from one of Silicon Valley\u2019s smartest VCs illustrates in the parallel universe of start ups many of the challenges of our military operating in an environment of rapid tech innovation where retaining dominance is a continuous challenge. Nominally about management, it\u2019s a pungent book about leadership. The chapter on peacetime CEOs and wartime CEOs all by itself shows he\u2019d be a terrific SECDEF. Bonus: the acronym WFIO, describing the situation when the real work of strategy begins.<\/p>\n

Rules of the Game: Jutland and British Naval Command<\/em><\/a>, Andrew Gordon<\/p>\n

A thousand page history of the decline of the Royal Navy from \u201cratcatchers\u201d who understand the commander\u2019s intent and take initiative to \u201cregulators\u201d who follow the detailed administrative rules, thereby losing the fleeting opportunities combat provides. Bogs down badly in the middle detailing how the clubby connections of British society inhibited change, still worth reading because our military is fast on the way to becoming Jellicoe\u2019s at Jutland. Nelson weeps.<\/p>\n

Danny Steed<\/strong><\/p>\n

Deciphering Sun Tzu: How to Read The Art of War<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> Derek Yuen<\/p>\n

The Future of Stategy<\/em><\/a>, Colin Gray<\/p>\n

Joshua Walker (<\/strong>@drjwalk<\/strong><\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rebel Yell: The Violence, Passion, and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson<\/em><\/a>, S.C. Gwynne<\/p>\n

As the 150th anniversary of the Civil War comes to a close this year, S. C. Gwynne\u2019s biography of Civil War general Thomas \u201cStonewall\u201d Jackson arrives just in time for the holidays. A finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, Rebel Yell outlines how Jackson became a tragic national hero who is considered one of the greatest American generals that many non-Southerns have not heard as much about. While only halfway through, its been a page-turner that portrays Jackson\u2019s competing idiosyncratic demons and tactical genius that is full of new information that is relevant even for today\u2019s modern warfare.<\/p>\n

Shogun<\/em><\/a>, James Clavell<\/p>\n

A Western classic on Japan written that few Japanese or those of us that grew up in Japan have actually read but are constantly being asked about. Written by a Brit in the 20th century about feudal Japan in the 17th century, this historic novel follows the intrigue, nuance, and story of Captain John Blackthorne arrival and adventures to this reclusive island nation that speeds up the European imperial rivalry there that would eventually lead to the opening and modernization of Japan. Beginning as the prototypical outsider, Blackthorne comes to appreciate and even adopt the samurai spirit that is still idolized in Japan and the world around. This epic novel deserves its recognition as a classic and is ripe for a Hollywood movie that would far outpace \u201cLast Samurai\u201d any day. For both casual observers and experts of Japan there is something for everyone in Shogun.<\/p>\n

Ali Wyne (<\/strong>@Ali_Wyne<\/strong><\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Red Team: How to Succeed by Thinking Like the Enemy<\/em><\/a>, Micah Zenko<\/p>\n

The Power of the Past: History and Statecraft<\/a>, Hal Brands and Jeremi Suri<\/p>\n

Read the Original List at War on the Rocks<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some real gems in this list..definitely worth a look and read. -SF We are a little tardy with this year\u2019s holiday reading list, but there is still time for Santa (or Amazon) to get these books to you or your loved ones in time! Please see what our contributors think you should be reading this…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[932,1427],"tags":[1567,3420],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10144"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10144\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}