The Chief of Naval Operations Professional Reading Program (CNO-PRP) runs under the motto ‘Read Well to Lead Well.’.
Nearly 200 years ago, the Navy ordered its ships to be outfitted with a reading list of 37 books in order to help train and educate sailors.
This grew to become the CNO-PRP, which is comprised of 53 books divided into four subject areas: readiness, capabilities, capacity and sailors.
Within each category, the books are split into three levels: foundational, advanced and capstone.
There is also a suggested reading list featuring 21 books.
READINESS
Foundational:
Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War – P.W. Singer & August Cole
A Brief Guide to Maritime Strategy – James R. Holmes
Neptune’s Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal – James D. Hornfischer
Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy – Ian W. Toll
Advanced:
Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War – Karl Marlantes
Red Star Over the Pacific: China’s Rise and the Challenge to U.S. Maritime Strategy – Toshi Yoshihara & James R. Holmes
Seapower: A Guide for 21st Century – Geoffrey Till
The Leader’s Bookshelf – ADM. James Stavridis & R. Manning Ancell
Capstone:
Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t – Simon Sinek
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success – Carol S. Dweck
The Infinite Game – Simon Sinek
What is it Like to go to war – Karl Marlantes
CAPABILITIES
Foundational:
Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War – Paul Scharre
Artificial Intelligence Basics – Tom Taulli
Burn-in: A Novel of the Real Robotic Revolution – P.W. Singer & August Cole
The Future of War: A History – Lawrence Freedman
The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century – George Friedman
Advanced:
The Fifth Domain: Defending Our Country, Our Companies and Ourselves in the Age of Cyber Threats – Richard A. Clark & Robert K. Knake
Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control – Stuart Russell
New Rules of War: Victory in the Age of Durable Disorder – Sean McFate
The Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage, and Fear in the Cyber Age – David E. Sanger
Capstone:
Deep Thinking: Where machine Intelligence Ends and Human Creativity Begins – Garry Kasparov
Genius Weapons: Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Weaponry, and the Future of Warfare – Louis A. DelMonte
The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future – Kevin Kelly
No Ordinary Disruption: The Four Global Forces Breaking All the Trends – Richard Dobbs, James Manyika, Jonathan Woetzel
CAPACITY
Foundational:
Fearless: The Undaunted Courage and Ultimate Sacrifice of Navy SEAL Team Six Operator Adam Brown – Eric Blehm
One Nation Under Drones: Legality, Morality, and Utility of Unmanned Combat Systems – John E. Jackson
The Fleet at Flood Tide: American at Total War in the Pacific, 1944-1945 – James D. Hornfischer
The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy’s Finest Hour – James D. Hornfischer
Advanced:
Fleet Tactics and Coastal Combat – Wayne P. Hughes
Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations – Michael Walzer
Seapower: The History and Geopolitics of the World’s Oceans – ADM. James Stavridis, R. Manning Ancell & Bob Souer
Toward A New Maritime Strategy: American Naval Thinking in the Post-Cold War Era – Peter D. Haynes
Capstone:
The End of Grand Strategy: US Maritime Operations in the Twenty-First Century – Simon Reich & Peter Dombrowski
Our Robots Ourselves: Robotics and the Myths of Autonomy – David A. Mindell
The Future of Violence: Robots and Germs, Hackers and Drones – Benjamin Wittes & Gabriella Blum
The Second Most Powerful Man in the World: The Life of Admiral William D. Leahy, Roosevelt’s Chief of Staff – Phillips Payson O’Brien
SAILORS
Foundational:
The Dichotomy of Leadership: Balancing the Challenges of Extreme Ownership to Lead and Win – Jocko Willink & Leif Babin
Ego is the Enemy – Ryan Holiday
How to be an Anti-Racist – Ibram X. Kendi
Tiny Habits: The Small Changes that Change Everything – BJ Fogg
We Can’t Talk About That at Work!: How to Talk about Race, Religion, Politics and Other Polarizing Topics – Mary-Frances Winters
Advanced:
A Tactical Ethic: Moral Conduct in the Insurgent Battlespace – Dick Couch
The Character Gap: How Good Are We – Christian Miller
Fed Up: Emotional Labor, Women and the Way Forward – Gemma Hartley
Military Ethics: What Everyone Needs to Know – George Lucas
Sexual Minorities and Politics: An Introduction – Jason Pierceson
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action – Simon Sinek
Capstone:
Fortune Favors Boldness: The Story of Naval Valor During Operation Iraqi Freedom – Barry M. Costello
No Pity: People with Disabilities Forging a New Civil Rights Movement – Joseph P. Shapiro
The Road to Character – David Brooks
The Honest Truth about Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone – Especially Ourselves – Dan Ariely
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindess – Michell Alexander
SUGGESTED READING
A Call to Conscience: The Landmark Speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – Clayborne Carson, Kris Shepard, Andrew Young (eds.)
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking – Malcolm Gladwell
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
Cannonball! – Brock Yates
Class 11: Inside the CIA’s First Post 9/11 Spy Class – T.J. Waters
Descent Into Darkness: Pearl Harbour, 1941 A Navy Diver’s Memoir – Edward C. Raymer
Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War – Robert M. Gates
Jonathan L. Seagull – Richard Bach
Overcome: Crush Adversity with the Leadership Technique of America’s Toughest Warriors – Jason Redman
Perform Under Pressure – Dr. Ceri Evans
Run Silent, Run Deep – Edward L. Beach
Shoot the Women First – Eileen MacDonald
Starship Troopers – Robert A. Heinlein
Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World – Gen. Stanley McChrystal, Tantum Collins, David Silverman, Chris Fussell
The Captain Class: A New Theory of Leadership – Sam Walker
The Good Shepherd – C.S. Forester
The Happiness Advantage: How a Positive Brain Fuels Success in Work and in Life: Shawn Achor
The Old Man’s Trail: A Novel about the Vietcong – Tom Campbell
The Only Women in the Room – Marie Benedict
Tragedy at Honda Point – Charles A. Lockwood
We Die Alone: A WWII Epic of Escape and Endurance – David Howarth