Call for Professional Reading Lists

[SWCAdmin]

Making enhancements to our pages on the SWJ side. The new format will allow us to provide a list of lists, cross-referencing various books.

PLEASE SEND ANY GOOD READING LISTS so that we can bake them into our new offering. And tell us a little about the list. Once live, the new pages will allow user comments on the lists and on the books.

Option 1, post here (text or attachment).

Option 2, if that causes trouble or for whatever reason, email to webmaster.

Thanks for your support.

[Tom Odom]

Bill,

You have my COIN/Small Wars Bib as a former FAO and of course, the review essay in Vol 6 of SWJ magazine.

Best
Tom

[selil]

Are you interested in military specific topics only or are you interested in things like John Dewey "How we think", an excellent book on figuring out why people respond to particular stimuli, Thomas Kuhn "The structure of scientific revolutions", a book that explains how things happen in thought, science, and totally valid for the military expert who wants to know what "paradigm shift" really means.

[SWCAdmin]

Tom, yes, thanks.

Selil, good question, two clarifications....(what was obvious to me was clearly not so obvious)

1. Interest transcends "just military", but should be Small Wars appropriate -- culture, anthropology, geopolitics, etc., if there's a tie-in, it's welcome. Just not trying to de-throne Oprah.

2. This call-for is specifically targeted to lists linked to some sort of significant organization. Examples of the targets I had in mind when I wrote this are:

- Institutional lists... CMC, Army CGSC, etc. (have those two, but not, e.g. ICAF, School of Americas)
- Unit lists, e.g. 4th ID, I MEF, Brave Rifles, etc.
- Reading list from Dr. So and So's course on XYZ, particularly if there's a name brand in there or if the list just really rocks (tell us).

For now, am focused here on data collection for organized lists.

FYI, member commentary on individual books is a part of the package we have planned, and I would just ask all to hold off on the one-off recommendations until you see the pages. For those member-recommended books that are not on ANY of the lists, we'll have a utility for submission of new titles (maybe not on Day 1, but pretty damn soon).

If you have your own list (e.g. Billy Bob's Top 10 on <your topic>) that you think is particularly good, send it along. Will also list our own SWJ Top Picks. And insights always welcome through comment.

[Jimbo]

I have some syllabi for some classes I recently took, I will dig them up. I will also share what I have when I start my next block in a month.

[marct]

Here are a few that may be useful.

Lewis Coser, "The function of social conflict". Free Press, 1956
Summary Conclusions Amazon

Max Gluckman, "Custom and Conflict in Africa", Blackwell, 1956
Amazon (personally, I have always grabbed my copies for a couple of bucks at second hand stores).

Marc

[PhilR]

I posted this previously in the "What are you reading" thread. I just ran across this on the Australia Land Warfare Studies website: http://www.defence.gov.au/Army/lwsc/ (its under Study Papers)
Its a pretty good reading list. Many titles are familiar, but many are "out of the mainstream" for military reading lists (and I'm not just talking about Australia-specific titles). There's a healthy dose of fiction and I was intrigued by logic of its matching of book titles to ranks (the idea of mathing is common, but there are some interesting choices here). Also, there seems to be a logic to the list in that the books are presented in a manner to suggest that some should be read close together--to gain differing perspectives on a subject.
The intro article on reading military history, originally published in 1965, is also well worth the time.

[SteveMetz]

Don't know if it's of any use, but here's my "Understanding the Iraq Conflict" list from Amazon.

[SWJED]

Read Different - Dr. TX Hammes in Armed Forces Journal

The 2008 Warlord Loop Reading List - in Proceedings

[Noble Industries]

Link to Australian Inspector General of Intelligence website and link to reports section. Perhaps handy for mining data on Australian Intel from a govt perspective?

http://www.igis.gov.au/annual.cfm

[Van]

An intelligence oriented reading list, specificly aimed at folks entering the U.S. DoD intelligence world;

-The Craft of Intelligence by Allen W. Dulles (THE primer on intelligence). This is an excellent discussion of intelligence from requirements through collection to analysis. Dulles presents it so well that, despite the clear Cold War spin, the relevance is timeless.

-The U.S. Intelligence Community by Jeffrey T. Richelson (A comprehensive work on U.S. Intel; be sure to get the 5th edition).

-My Adventures as a Spy by Robert Baden-Powell (fun and motivational, but lots of valid nuggets, and can be found as a .pdf online).

-Aids to scouting for N.-C.Os. & men by Robert Baden-Powell (avail from www.military-info.com, there is a .pdf floating around though) (a valuable historical perspective; how it worked before radio and PowerPoint).

-Handbook of Intelligence and Guerilla Warfare by Alexander Orlov (how the other side, the USSR, used to do it, kind of like studying course notes from the O.S.S. or early CIA).

-I can't think of a single, good work on analysis for less than $100, but should I see one, I'll forward it. The Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_analysis) in intel analysis isn't bad, and has links to better materials.

-The Compleat Strategyst: Being a Primer on the Theory of Games of Strategy; by J. D. Williams. This is the best book on game theory for liberal arts majors (including history majors). What this provides is a language from discussing conflict and politics that is low on emotion, allowing more level-headed discussion. (If you have the maths, "Games and Decisions: Introduction and Critical Survey" by R. Duncan Luce, Howard Raiffa is better, but sigma notation makes my head spin.)

-Statistics for Dummies. Numbers do, in fact, lie. But with a little preparation, they don't have to lie to you.

[Jedburgh]

-I can't think of a single, good work on analysis for less than $100, but should I see one, I'll forward it. The Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_analysis) in intel analysis isn't bad, and has links to better materials.

How about Robert Clark's Intelligence Analysis: A Target-Centric Approach, a solid read and available for about half that price.

A much more basic level review of fundamentals is Lisa Krizan's Intelligence Essentials for Everyone - and its half that again.

Cynthia Grabo's Anticipating Surprise: Analysis for Strategic Warning (discussed here before) has a narrower focus, but is the classic in the field of warning intelligence.

Then there's the other classic read on analysis and policy that I've mentioned here a couple of times, Knowing One's Enemies: Intelligence Assessment Before the Two World Wars

I could go on. But those are just a few examples of why I do not see where the $100 entry margin applies for the purchase of good books on intelligence analysis.....

[Van]

As I said,

folks entering the U.S. DoD intelligence world

. Not saying your recommendations are not good, but not the first books I'd hand to a junior enlisted, an NCO coming from a non-intel MOS, or a 2nd Lieutenant.

Great recommendations for the next stage of education though!

You might also consider
Surprise Attack: The Victim's Perspective , by Ephraim Kam.

As much about the psychology of analysis as surprise.

On that note;
"Psychology of Intelligence Analysis" by Richard Heuer, available as a .pdf from the CIA web site. Along with anything by Sherman Kent, available from the same web site.

[Jedburgh]

As I said, . Not saying your recommendations are not good, but not the first books I'd hand to a junior enlisted, an NCO coming from a non-intel MOS, or a 2nd Lieutenant.

Clark's book is definitely what I'd hand to a cherry analyst for a read. As is Heuer's. Krizan's is at a more basic level and is geared for non-intel folks.

Expanding on target audience, there is also a narrow shelf of required reading depending upon whether the new guy is assigned to a tactical or strategic unit, and even narrower depending upon unit mission. Much also depends on the level of greenness of the new guy - not all newly minted MI guys (enlisted or officer) are equally ignorant - and for retread NCOs, what field they are coming from can drive selection of professional reading.

Given all that, I agree that the latter two books mentioned first post are better read once one has some experience to lend necessary context to the material. But I could also throw out a qualifier; I've had new guys who were civilian history buffs prior to putting on the uniform who would eat up either one of those books and truly enjoy the insights into events in the context of their newly chosen field.

In any case, I wasn't throwing out a new list - nor am I now - simply stating with examples that there is plenty of good professional reading in the intelligence field available for less than $100 a copy.

[Steve Blair]

The Krizan book is perhaps the cheapest....

here and here.

[SWJED]

As you peruse the posts in this forum on the issues being discussed at the TRADOC Senior Leaders Conference we would appreciate any and all reading recommendations. We will consolidate the list and publish it on Small Wars Journal - please provide the title (book, article, study), author and a short blurb on why that particular item is relevant to the discourse.

If your recommendation is an article, essay or study and is available online a link would be most appreciated. If you'd like your recommendation, when published, to be tied to your real name you can either provide it here or send it along via PM or e-mail to me - SWJED. Otherwise we will go with your Council ID.

We've already had one suggestion today, by Council member Anlaochfhile, The American Culture of War: The History of U.S. Military Force from World War II to Operation Iraqi Freedom, by Dr. Adrian Lewis, as a resource that addresses the role that American culture plays in how our forces organize, equip, and fight.

Thanks much.

--Dave Dilegge

[davidbfpo]

The brilliant 'Traffiking and Terrorist Networks, Government Bureaucracies, and Competitive Adaptation' by Michael Kenney. Published by The Pennsylvannia State University Press 2007 (ISBN 0=27102931-5). Best chapters are on how "narcs" and terrorists learn. For this reading list I expect the process of adaptation is more valuable.

Three reviewers cited on publishers website: http://www.psupress.org/books/titles...1-02931-3.html

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B001RTST4C

Note available in e-form (Kindle), paperback and hardback.

davidbfpo

[Starbuck]

As the Army's senior leadership is walking the fields of Gettysburg, and learning from the past, I'd like to suggest "Rethinking Military History" by Jaremy Black.

Robert Haddick brought up a great point the other day regarding staff rides at Gettysburg: we often have difficulty conveying a relevant message to modern audiences. The tactics at Gettysburg were designed for a 1-2GW environment, and are often not relevant for the tactical leader. We also spend a lot more time discussing the nuances of Civil War Cavalry belt buckles than the strategic issues involved in the war.

But we in the military love our history--and rightfully so, make no mistake. The problem is taking away the right lessons from history. For example, walk down the halls of many headquarters buildings (particularly Cav units), and you will see that a number paintings of the US Cavalry in action on horseback in the American West. Yet, should we really be glorifying their approach to counterinsurgency as practiced in the West in light of counterinsurgency experience in Iraq or Afghanistan?

This book gets us to challenge the way we read our history and breaks down a number of paradigms. For example, the American-centric bias in our own history. We focus a lot on our own military history (for good reason, don't get me wrong), but we also need to know our enemies as well. There is also much we can learn from Eastern militaries.

The book also talks about the fascination with technology in military history (just look at the history channel's fascination with the technical aspects of fighter planes).

Finally, we often read about major state-on-state wars, but until recently, there haven't been many books about counterinsurgencies. Partly this is because the narrative of a battle reads well in a book and plays well in a movie--there are good guys, bad guys, a climax, plot, etc. Counterinsurgency doesn't sell well because it is slow, tedious, and filled with well digging, leader engagements and the like. But these are the types of missions armies have performed for millennia, and we should know these missions as well.

Granted, there are a few chapters in the book that are great, and some that aren't that interesting. I wouldn't recommend it for a CSA reading list, but it gives some great insights into the reading of history--appropriate since our leaders are walking the fields of Gettysburg and seem to be trying to take away the right lessons.

[CitadelSix]

Once a Warrior King: Memories of an Officer in Vietnam by David Donovan.

A very insightful book on the dynamics of small unit leadership, especially in the context of a small advisory unit that is isolated from main body U.S. forces. I found the anecdotes on cultural understanding and engagement very helpful as I prepared for my MiTT mission a couple of years ago. While the advisory mission has changed somewhat in the last year, the ideas on building and nuturing relationships with your counterpart without "going native" are still worth a read.

[Umar Al-Mokhtār]

For the Common Defense by Allan R. Millett and Peter Maslowski

A concise, yet excellent, overview of American military history from 1607 through Desert Storm.

US Army Counterinsurgency and Contingency Operations Doctrine, 1860-1941

and

U.S. Army Counterinsurgency and Contingency Operations Doctrine, 1942-1976.

Both by Andrew J. Birtle

How “big” Army has dealt with the many small wars it has fought since the Civil War and how the soldiers involved not only fought but often found themselves in roles as governors, constables, judges, diplomats, explorers, colonizers, educators, administrators, engineers, and more. Birtle basically points out that while the Army continually devotes most of its planning and training to “big” war it has actually spent most of its time involved in “small” wars.