The Marine Corps Reading List began in 1988 and has a minimum standard of six grade appropriate books which all Marines are expected to read.  Once Marines have reached the minimum standard on the USMC reading list they can expand their Marine Corps professional reading. All Commanders are directed to develop a professional Unit Reading Program tailored to the mission needs of the organization.

Marine Corps Reading List: 

Private- Lance Corporal

-First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps (Bluejacket Books)
-Warfighting MCDP 1
-A Message to Garcia
-Rifleman Dodd
-The Soldier's Load the Mobility of a Nation
-Ender's Game

Corporal

-First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps (Bluejacket Books)
-Leading Marines: MCWP 6-11
-Battle Leadership
-Flags of Our Fathers
-Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae
-Imperial Grunts: On the Ground with the American Military, from Mongolia to the Philippines to Iraq and Beyond
-Small Unit Leaders Guide to Counterinsurgency

Sergeant

-First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps (Bluejacket Books)
-Tactics MCDP 1-3
-The Art of War by Sun Tzu
-Tip of the Spear
-Attacks by Rommel
-With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa
-The Village by Bing West

Staff Sergeant

-First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps (Bluejacket Books)
-Campaigning MCDP 1-2
-This Kind of War
-Band of Brothers by Ambrose
-Face of Battle by Keegan
-A Bell for Adano
-Utmost Savagery

Gunnery Sergeant

-First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps (Bluejacket Books)
-MCDP-5 Planning
-The Savage Wars Of Peace
-We Were Soldiers Once...and Young
-On Combat
-Breakout: The Chosin Reservoir Campaign, Korea 1950
-Victory at High Tide: The Inchon-Seoul Campaign (Great War Stories)

Master Sergeant/First Sergeant

-First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps (Bluejacket Books)
-Strategy MCDP 1-1
-Reminiscences of a Marine by John A. Lejeune
-Fields of Battle: The Wars for North America
-Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence
-On Killing
-Battle Cry Of Freedom

Master Gunnery Sergeant / Sergeant Major

-First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps (Bluejacket Books)
-The General
-No Bended Knee: The Battle for Guadalcanal
-Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character
-The Mask of Command by Keegan
-The Arab Mind

Officer Candidate / Midshipman

-Warfighting MCDP 1
-The Armed Forces Officer
-A Message to Garcia
-Rifleman Dodd
-The Soldier's Load the Mobility of a Nation
-First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps (Bluejacket Books)
-Ender's Game
-The Ugly American

2nd Lieutenant / Warrant Officer

-First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps (Bluejacket Books)
-Leading Marines: MCWP 6-11
-Fields of Fire by James Webb
-The Art of War by Sun Tzu
-The Anatomy of Courage
-On Infantry: Revised Edition (Military Profession)
-Small Unit Leaders Guide to Counterinsurgency
-The Soldier's Load the Mobility of a Nation by S.L.A Marshall


1st Lieutenant / Chief Warrant Officer 2

-First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps (Bluejacket Books)
-The Bridge at Dong Ha
-Face of Battle by Keegan by J. Keegan
-Reminiscences of a Marine by John A. Lejeune
-Counterinsurgency Warfare
-Battle Cry Of Freedom by J.M. McPherson

Captain / Chief Warrant Officer 3

-First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps (Bluejacket Books)
-For the Common Defense
-The Mask of Command by Keegan
-The Savage Wars Of Peace
-On Combat by D. Grossman
-The Arab Mind  by R. Patai

Major / Chief Warrant Officer 4

-First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps (Bluejacket Books)
-Once An Eagle
-The Guns of August
-History of Pelopnnesian War by Thucydides
-The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization
-Grant Takes Command

Lieutenant Colonel/ Chief Warrant Officer 5

-First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps (Bluejacket Books)
-Masters of War: Classical Strategic Thought
-Supplying War by Van Creveld
-Carnage and Culture
-Defeat Into Victory by Slim
-Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954-1965

Colonel to General

-First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps (Bluejacket Books)
-Dereliction of Duty by H. R. McMaster
-Supreme Command: Soldiers, Statesmen, and Leadership in Wartime
-Diplomacy by Henry Kissinger
-Feeding Mars: Logistics In Western Warfare From The Middle Ages-Present
-The Crisis of Islam by B. Lewis