National Security Homework

Rep. Ike Skelton, "an influential Democrat on military matters, warned Monday that American policy makers may be forgetting history's lessons as clashes escalate between Iraqis and American troops," the Kansas City Star reports. "As a remedy for that ignorance, the 14-term Missouri congressman is recommending a reading list of 50 books to U.S. military officers, members of Congress and anyone else who cares about national security."

1. U.S. Constitution.
2. "Sun Tzu: The Art of War." Samuel B. Griffith, translator.
3. "On War." Carl von Clausewitz. Peter Paret and Michael Howard.
4. "Masters of War: Classical Strategic Thought." Michael I. Handel.
5. "The Book of War." John Keegan, editor.
6. "Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World: From Marathon to Waterloo." Edward Sheperd Creasy.
7. "Alexander the Great." Peter Bamm.
8. "Hannibal." Sir Gavin De Beer.
9. "The Face of Battle." John Keegan.
10. "Crucible of War: The Seven Years War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754 - 1766." Fred Anderson.
11. "Daniel Boone: The Life and Legend of an American Pioneer." John Mack Faragher.
12. "Washington." Richard Barksdale Harwell and Douglas Southall Freeman.
13. "Tecumseh: A Life." John Sugden.
14. "Undaunted Courage." Stephen Ambrose.
15. "Napoleon Bonaparte: An Intimate Biography." Vincent Cronin.
16. "The Military Maxims of Napoleon: The Principles of Warfare by Napoleon." Napoleon Bonaparte, translation by George C. D'Aguilar.
17. "Nelson: A Personal History." Christopher Hibbert.
18. "The Price of Admiralty: The Evolution of Naval Warfare." John Keegan.
19. "The Washing of the Spears: The Rise and Fall of the Zulu Nation Under Shaka and Its Fall in the Zulu War of 1879." Donald R. Morris.
20. "Lee." Douglas Southall Freeman.
21. "Personal Memoirs: Ulysses S. Grant." Ulysses S. Grant.
22. "Gray Ghosts of the Confederacy: Guerrilla Warfare in the West, 1861-1865." Richard S. Brownlee.
23. "Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era." James M. McPherson.
24. "Son of the Morning Star." Evan S. Connell.
25. "A Message to Garcia." Elbert Hubbard.
26. "Yanks: The Epic Story of the American Army in World War I." John Eisenhower, 2002.
27. "Black Jack: The Life and Times of John J. Pershing." Frank Everson Vandiver, Two Volumes.
28. "Churchill: A Biography." Roy Jenkins.
29. "A War to be Won." Allan R. Miller and Williamson Murray.
30. "Reminiscences." Douglas MacArthur.
31. "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich." William L. Shirer.
32. "Combined Fleet Decoded: The Secret History of American Intelligence and the Japanese Navy in World War II." John Prados.
33. "Ghost Soldiers: The Forgotten Epic Story of World War II's Most Dramatic Mission." Hampton Sides.
34. "Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle." Richard Frank.
35. "The Victors: Eisenhower and his boys and men of World War II." Stephen Ambrose.
36. "Black Knights: The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen." Lynn M. Homan and Thomas Reilly.
37. "Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Rendezvous with Destiny." Frank Freidel.
38. "Women in the Military: An Unfinished Revolution." Maj. Gen. Jeanne Hold, USAF, Retired.
39. "Defeat Into Victory." William Slim.
40. "Truman." David McCullough.
41. "This Kind of War: The Classic Korean War History." T.R. Fehrenbach.
42. "Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War." Robert Coram.
43. "We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young." Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway.
44. "Gulf War: The Complete History." Thomas G. Houlahan
45. "Warrior Politics: Why Leadership Requires a Pagan Ethos." Robert D. Kaplan.
46. "Yellow Smoke: The Future of Land Warfare for America's Military (Role of American Military Power)." MG Robert H. Scales Jr.
47. "Supreme Command: Soldiers, Statesmen and Leadership in Wartime." Eliot Cohen.
48. "From Vietnam to 9/11: On the Front Lines of National Security." John P. Murtha with John Plashal.
49. "Making the Corps." Thomas E. Ricks.
50. "The American Way of War: A History of United States Military Strategy and Policy." Russel Frank Weigley.

[via Political Wire]