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Human history has always been driven by war.
If people aren’t engaged in war, then they’re either preparing for the next one or rebuilding from the one they just ended.
As awful as wars are, we can learn a lot about human nature, leadership, followership, innovation, sociology, religion, and more when we spend time studying the people and nations that engage in violent conflicts.
The Art of Manliness guys have done us a big favor by sharing this piece written by Ryan Holiday, titled, 43 Books About War Every Man Should Read.
I’ve read and shared several of these books over my years as a student and instructor of warfare, leadership, and the like, but these are the ones that I recommend for anybody who is just getting their feet wet in this genre:
- The Art of War by Sun Tzu
- Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae by Steven Pressfield
- The Western Way of War: Infantry Battle in Classical Greece by Victor Davis Hanson
- The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi
- On War by Carl von Clausewitz
- The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World: From Marathon to Waterloo by Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy
- Ulysses S. Grant…
