Suggested Reading
“I cannot Live without books; but fewer will suffice where amusement, and not use, is the only future object.” —Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, June 10, 1815
Each one of these books has made an impact on someone here at Lodestone Training and Consulting.
We will be adding to this list periodically, so check back and see what books we’ve had our noses in.
Government
—The Constitution of the United States of America
—The Declaration of Independence
—The Proper Role of Government by Ezra Taft Benson
—The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay
—The Anti-Federalist Papers by Patrick Henry
—Common Sense by Thomas Paine
—The American Crisis by Thomas Paine
—The Making of America by Cleon Skousen
—The Naked Communist by Cleon Skousen
—Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville
History
—Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly, and the Making of the Modern Middle East by Scott Anderson
—The Gunfighters: True Tales of Outlaws, Lawmen, and the Indians on the Texas Frontier by Col. Charles Askins
—The Great Influenza by John Barry
—America: The Last Best Hope by William J. Bennett
—Commentaries on the Gallic War by Gaius Julius Caesar
—Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang
—Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond
—Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise of Western Power by Victor Davis Hanson
—The Somme by Peter Hart
—The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour by James Hornfischer
—The Great Mortality by John Kelly
—Skeletons on the Zahara by Dean King
—The Kingdom: Arabia and the House of Sa'ud by Robert Lacey
—Day of Infamy by Walter Lord
—The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East by Eugene Rogan
—The Rough Riders by Theodore Roosevelt
—The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
—Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs by Hunter S. Thompson
—The Siege of Mecca: The Forgotten Uprising in Islam's Holiest Shrine and the Birth of al-Qaeda by Yaroslav Trofimov
—The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe
Military History/Biography
—Blackhawk Down by Mark Bowden
—Hue 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam by Mark Bowden
—Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad by William Craig
—Bounty Hunter 4/3 by Jason Delgado
—Halsey’s Typhoon: The True Story of a Fighting Admiral, an Epic Storm, and an Untold Rescue by Bob Drury, Tom Clavin
—The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan by Lester W. Grau
—The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War by Lester Grau, Ali Ahmad Jalali
—Congo Mercenary by Mike Hoare
—Pamwe Chete: The Legend of the Selous Scouts by Ronald Reid-Daly
—Hunting the Jackal: A Special Forces and CIA Soldier's Fifty Years on the Frontlines of the War Against Terrorism by Billy Waugh, Tim Keown
Memoir/Biography
—The Real George Washington by Andrew M. Allison
—The Real Thomas Jefferson by Allison, Maxfield, Cook & Skousen
—The Real Benjamin Franklin by Andrew M. Allison
—Unrepentant Sinner: The Autobiography of Colonel Charles Askins by Charles Askins
—Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave by Frederick Douglass
—Not Even My Name by Thea Halo
—Killing Patton by Bill O'Reilly
—Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi
—Shaka Zulu by E.A. Ritter
—Five Years to Freedom by James Nick Roe
—South: The Story of Shackleton's 1914-1917 Expedition by Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton
—With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by E. B. Sledge
—Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum
—Agent Storm: My Life Inside Al Qaeda and the CIA by Morten Storm
Non-Fiction
—The Beast in the Garden by David Baron
—Control: Exposing the Truth About Guns by Glenn Beck
—Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World’s Greatest Outlaw by Mark Bowden
—Death in the Long Grass by Peter Hathaway Capstick
—Terror at Beslan: A Russian Tragedy with Lessons for America's Schools by John Giduck
—Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster by Adam Higginbotham
—The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements by Eric Hoffer
—Left of Bang: How the Marine Corps' Combat Hunter Program Can Save Your Life by Patrick Van Horne, Jason Riley
—Atomic Accidents: A History of Nuclear Meltdowns and Disasters: From the Ozark Mountains to Fukushima by James Mahaffey
—Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon
—Fukushima by Mark Willacy
Philosophy/Religious
—The Bible
—The Book of Mormon
—Danger & Play: Essays on Embracing Masculinity by Mike Cernovich
—Becoming a Barbarian by Jack Donovan
—Man’s Search for Meaningby Viktor Frankl
—Manhood in the Making: Cultural Concepts of Masculinity by David D. Gilmore
—Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence
—The Princeby Machiavelli
—The Book of Five Rings by Musashi Miyamoto
—On the Shortness of Life by Seneca
—Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
—The Art of War by Sun Tzu
—The Bhagavad Gita by Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa
Educational/Resource Material
—FM 7-8 – Dept. of the Army
—Ranger Handbook - Dept. of the Army
—The Complete Survival Guide to Foraging Skills, Tactics, and Techniques – Dept. of the Army
—The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence by Gavin de Becker
—The Tassajara Bread Book by Edward Espe Brown, Ron Suresha
—No Second Place Winner by Bill Jordan
—Green Eyes & Black Rifles: Warrior's Guide to the Combat Carbine by Kyle Lamb
—Stay in the Fight!! Warriors Guide to the Combat Pistol by Kyle Lamb
—Leadership in the Shadows by Kyle Lamb
—US Army Special Forces Small Unit Tactics Handbook by Paul LeFavor
—The Mini-Farming Handbook by Brett Markham
—501 Unarmed Self-Defense Skills by Chris McNab
—The Disaster Prepper's Organizer by Walter Jacob Mullin
—Basic Survival: A Beginner’s Guide by David Nash
—What Every Body Is Saying by Joe Navarro
—Put 'Em Down, Take 'Em Out! by Don Pentecost
—12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson
—Survive! by Les Stroud
Fiction
—Harm’s Way by James Bassett
—Crimes in Southern Indiana: Stories by Frank Bill
—The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
—The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy
—Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy
—Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
—Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
—The Mist by Stephen King
—The Shining by Stephen King
—Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling
—Kim by Rudyard Kipling
—Last of the Breed by Louis L’Amour
—The Sacketts Series by Louis L'Amour
—The Walking Drum by Louis L’Amour
—No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
—The Road by Cormac McCarthy
—Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
—Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk
—True Grit by Charles Portis
—Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
—The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen by Rudolf Erich Raspe
—The Old Man and the Boy by Robert Ruark
—King Lear by William Shakespeare
—Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare
—The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
—Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell
—War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk
Sci-Fi/Fantasy
—The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander
—Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
—The Postman by David Brin
—Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia
—The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein
—Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein
—Dune by Frank Herbert
—The Complete Chronicles of Conan by Robert E. Howard
—The Wanderer by Fritz Lieber
—Thirteen by Richard K. Morgan
—The Martian by Andy Weir
Children’s
—The Book of Virtues: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories by William Bennett
—Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
—The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
—The Call of the Wild by Jack London
—White Fang by Jack London
—Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
—Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
—The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
—The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
—The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
—Little House on the Prairie Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder