October 8, 2006: The U.S. Navy has announced Navy Professional Reading Program (NPRP), which is a list of sixty books the navy leadership believes that sailors should read. There's a lot of pop-psychology and pseudo-learned business stuff here, but it's nice to see the fiction. Every sailor should read The Cruel Sea.
The books are divided into "collections," each directed at a different age and rank group. Naval ranks are E-1 to E-9 for enlisted, and O-1 to O-10 for officers.
Junior Enlisted Collection (from recruit E-1 to E-4)
D-Day, June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II, by Stephen E. Ambrose
The Declaration of Independence and Other Great Documents of American History, 1775-1865
Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
Flags of Our Fathers, by James Bradley
The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
Life in Mr. Lincoln's Navy, by Dennis J. Ringle
Lincoln on Leadership, by Donald T. Phillips
A Passage to India, by E.M. Forster
A Sailor's History of the U.S. Navy, by Thomas J. Cutler
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey
Starship Troopers, by Robert A. Heinlein
Time Management From the Inside Out: The Foolproof Plan for Taking Control of Your Schedule and Your Life, by Julie Morgenstern
Leading Petty Officers Collection (E-4 to E-9)
American Government, by Robert A. Heineman, Steven A. Peterson, and Thomas H. Rasmussen
Billy Budd and Other Stories, by Herman Melville
The Caine Mutiny, by Herman Wouk
The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror, by Bernard Lewis
The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's
Finest Hour, by James D. Hornfischer
Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda, by Sean Naylor
The Sand Pebbles, by Richard McKenna
Shackleton's Way: Leadership Lessons From the Great Antarctic Explorer, by Margot Morrell and Stephanie Capparell
The Sheriff: America's Defense of the New World Order, by Colin S. Gray
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, by Malcolm Gladwell
To the Shores of Tripoli: The Birth of the U.S. Navy and Marines, by A.B.C. Whipple
Victory at Yorktown: The Campaign That Won the American Revolution, by Richard M. Ketchum
Division Leaders Collection (Junior officers, O-1 to O-3)
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
The Golden Thirteen: Recollections of the First Black Naval Officers, edited by Paul Stillwell; foreword by Colin L. Powell
The Good Shepherd, by C.S. Forester
The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way You Do Business, by Clayton M. Christensen
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time, by Dava Sobel
On the Origins of War: And the Preservation of Peace, by Donald Kagan
Recognizing Islam: Religion and Society in the Modern Middle East, by Michael Gilsenan
The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power, by Max Boot
Shield and Sword: The United States Navy in the Persian Gulf War, by Edward J. Marolda and Robert J. Schneller Jr.
Two Souls Indivisible: The Friendship That Saved Two POWs in Vietnam, by James S. Hirsch
White-Jacket: or, The World in a Man-of-War, by Herman Melville
The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century, by Thomas L. Friedman
Department/Command Leaders Collection (O-4 to O-6)
The Cruel Sea, by Nicholas Monsarrat
Eagle Against the Sun: The American War With Japan, by Ronald Spector
Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done, by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan
The Fate of Africa: From the Hopes of Freedom to the Heart of Despair, by Martin Meredith
From Beirut to Jerusalem, by Thomas L. Friedman
Imperial Grunts: The American Military on the Ground, by Robert D. Kaplan
Implementing Diversity: Best Practices for Making Diversity Work in Your Organization, by Marilyn Loden
Jefferson's War: America's First War on Terror, 1801-1805, by Joseph Wheelan
Leadership: The Warrior's Art, edited by Christopher Kolenda; foreword by General Barry R. McCaffrey, USA (Ret.)
Master and Commander, by Patrick O'Brian
One Hundred Years of Sea Power: The U.S. Navy, 1890-1990, by George W. Baer
Thinking in Time: The Uses of History for Decision Makers, by Richard E. Neustadt and Ernest R. May
Senior Leaders Collection (Admirals, and those aspiring to be one)
The Art of the Long View: Planning for the Future in an Uncertain World, by Peter Schwartz
Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism, by Robert Pape
Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War, by William Manchester
The Great Wall at Sea: China's Navy Enters the Twenty-first Century, by Bernard D. Cole
Leadership, by Rudolph W. Giuliani
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
The Pursuit of Victory: The Life and Achievement of Horatio Nelson, by Roger Knight, 29.
Rethinking the Principles of War, edited by Anthony D. McIvor
The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning, by Henry Mintzberg
Scenarios: The Art of Strategic Conversation, by Kees van der Heijden
The Second World War, Volume 1: The Gathering Storm, by Winston S. Churchill
1776, by David McCullough
NPRP titles are available for purchase at Navy Exchange (Wal-Mart like stores on naval bases) and via mail order (www.navy-nex.com), for a discount of 35 to 40 percent off the list price. Free copies are also being distributed to ships libraries throughout the fleet.