Duke Military History Hot 100

"Hot 100" Reading List

Here is the 1995 version of Duke University's "Hot 100" military history prelim reading list, prepared by Professor Alex Roland. Dr. Roland is currently working on an updated, 1999 version of this list. Part I, the first 25 books, are the readings required for students taking military history as a minor field. Students taking military history as their primary field are responsible for the entire list.

1) Andreski, Stanislav. Military Organization and Society. 2nd ed. London: Routledge & K. Paul, 1968.

2) Brodie, Bernard. Strategy in the Missile Age. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1959.

3) Clausewitz, Carl von. On War. Eds. Michael Howard and Peter Paret. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986.

4) Contamine, Philippe. War in the Middle Ages. Tr. by Michael Jones. New York: Basil Blackwell, 1986 <1980>

5) Ferrill, Arthur. The Origins of War from the Stone Age to Alexander the Great. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1985.

6) Gray, J. Glenn. The Warriors: Reflections on Men in Battle. New York: Harper and Row, 1973 <1958>

7) Holley, Irving Brinton, Jr. Ideas and Weapons: Exploitation of the Aerial Weapon by the United States During World War I; a Study in the Relationship of Technological Advance, Military Doctrine, and the Development of Weapons. New Haven: Yale University, 1953.

8) Howard, Michael. War in European History. New York: Oxford University Press, 1976.

9) Huntington, Samuel P. The Soldier and the State: The Theory and Politics of Civil-Military Relations. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1957.

10) Janowitz, Morris. The Professional Soldier: A Social and Political Portrait. Glencoe, IL: Free Press, 1960.

11) Keegan, John. The Face of Battle: A Study of Agincourt, Waterloo, and the Somme. New York: Viking, 1976.

12) Machiavelli, Niccolo. The Portable Machiavelli. Tr. and eds Peter Bondanella and Mark Musa. New York: Penguin, 1979.

13) McNeill, William H. The Pursuit of Power: Technology, Armed Force and Society Since AD 1000. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982.

14) Mahan, Alfred Thayer. The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783. Boston: Little, Brown, 1890.

15) Paret, Peter, ed. Makers of Modern Strategy: From Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986.

16) Parker, Geoffrey. The Military Revolution: Military Innovation and the Rise of the West, 1500-1800. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.

17) Preston, Richard A., Alex Roland, and Sidney Wise. Men in Arms: A History of Warfare in Its Interrelationships with Western Society. 5th ed. Fort Worth: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1991.

18) Ropp, Theodore. War in the Modern World. Revised Edition. New York: Collier, 1962.

19) Small, Melvin, and J. David Singer. Resort to Arms: International and Civil Wars, 1816-1980. 2nd ed. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1982.

20) Sun Tzu. The Art of War. Tr. by Samuel B. Griffiths. New York: Oxford University Press, 1963.

21) Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War. Revised Edition. Tr. by Richard Crawley. New York: Modern Library, 1982.

22) Tse-tung, Mao. Selected Military Writings. Peking: Foreign Language Press, 1963.

23) Waltz, Kenneth. Man, the State, and War. New York: Columbia University Press, 1959.

24) Weigley, Russell F. The American Way of War: A History of the United States Military Strategy and Policy. Enlarged Edition. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1984.

25) Wright, Quincy. A Study of War. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1965 <1942>.

PART II

1) Adcock, Frank E. The Greek and Macedonian Art of War. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1957.

2) _______________. The Roman Art of War Under the Republic. Cambridge: W. Heffer, 1963.

3) Asprey, Robert. War in the Shadows: The Guerrilla in History. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1975.

4) Bachrach, Bernard S. Merovingian Military Organization, 481-751. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1970.

5) Baxter, James Phinney. Scientists Against Time. Boston: Little, Brown, 1946.

6) Best, Geoffrey. Humanity in Warfare. New York: Columbia University Press, 1980.

7) Bramson, Leon, and George W. Goethals, eds. War: Studies from Psychology, Sociology, and Anthropology. Revised Edition. New York: Basic Books, 1964.

8) Brodie, Bernard. Sea Power in the Machine Age. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1941.

9) Catton, Bruce. The Civil War. New York: Fairfax Press, 1980.

10) Cipolla, Carlo. Guns, Sails, and Empire: Technological Innovation and the Early Phases of European Expansion, 1400-1700. New York: Pantheon Press, 1965.

11) Coffman, Edward M. The War to End All Wars. New York: Oxford University Press, 1968.

12) Craig, Gordon A. The Politics of the Prussian Army, 1640-1945. New York: Oxford University Press, 1964.

13) Cunliffe, Marcus. Soldiers and Civilians: The Martial Spirit in America, 1775-1865. Boston: Little, Brown, 1968.

14) Davie, Maurice. The Evolution of War: A Study of Its Role in Societies. Port Washington, New York: Kennikat Press, 1985 <1929>.

15) Delbruck, Hans. History of the Art of War Within the Framework of Political History. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1975-1985.

16) Douhet, Giulio. The Command of the Air. Tr. by Dino Ferrari. New York: Coward-McCann, 1942; Reprint, Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History, USAF, 1983 <1921, 1927>.

17) Duffy, Christopher. Siege Warfare. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979-1985.

18) Freedman, Lawrence. The Evolution of Nuclear Strategy. 2nd ed. London: MacMillan, 1989 <1983>.

19) Fuller, J. F. C. The Conduct of War, 1789-1961: A Study of the Impact of the French, Industrial, and Russian Revolutions on War and Its Conduct. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1961.

20) Fussell, Paul. The Great War and Modern Memory. New York: Oxford University Press, 1975.

21) Gaddis, John Lewis. Strategies of Containment: A Critical Appraisal of Postwar American National Security Policy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982.

22) Hale, J. R. War and Society in Renaissance Europe, 1450-1620. Fontana History of European War and Society. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1985.

23) Hammond, Paul Y. Organizing for Defense: The American Military Establishment in the Twentieth Century. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1961.

24) Hanson, Victor Davis. The Western Way of War: Infantry Battle in Classical Greece. New York: Knopf, 1989.

25) Herring, George C. America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975. New York: Wiley, 1979.

26) Higginbotham, R. Don. The War of American Independence: Military Attitudes, Politics, and Practices. New York: MacMillan, 1967.

27) Hittle, James D. The Military Staff: Its History and Development. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1975 <1961>.

28) Holmes, Richard. Acts of War: The Behavior of Men in Battle. New York: Free Press, 1986 <1985>.

29) Jomini, Henri. Summary of the Art of War. Tr. by G. H. Mendell and W. P. Craighill. Philadelphia, PA: J.B. Lippincott, 1862.

30) Kahn, David. The Codebreakers: The Story of Secret Writing. New York: MacMillan, 1967.

31) Kahn, Herman. On Thermonuclear War. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1960.

32) Kennedy, Paul M. The Rise and Fall of British Naval Mastery. New York: Scribner, 1976.

33) Kierman, Frank A., Jr., and John K. Fairbanks, eds. Chinese Ways in Warfare. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1974.

34) Kissinger, Henry A. Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy. New York: Council on Foreign Relations, 1957.

35) Kohn, Richard H. Eagle and Sword: The Beginnings of the Military Establishment in America. New York: Free Press, 1975.

36) Kwanten, Luc. Imperial Nomads: A History of Central Asia, 500-1500. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1979.

37) LaFeber, Walter. America, Russia, and the Cold War, 1945-1971. 3rd ed. New York: Wiley, 1976.

38) Lane, Frederick C. Venetian Ships and Shipbuilders of the Renaissance. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1934.

39) Laquer, Walter. Guerrilla: A Historical and Critical Study. Boston: Little, Brown, 1976.

40) Lewis, A.R., and T.J. Runyan. European Naval and Maritime History, 300-1500. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1985.

41) Liddell Hart, Basil H. Strategy: The Indirect Approach. London: Faber & Faber, 1954.

42) Livy. The War with Hannibal. Tr. by Aubrey de Selincourt. Ed. by Betty Radice. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1965.

43) Luttwak, Edward N. The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire: From the First Century A.D to the Third. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984 <1976>.

44) Luvaas, Jay, ed. and trans. Frederick the Great on the Art of War. New York: Free Press, 1966.

45) MacDonald, Charles B. The Mighty Endeavor: American Armed Forces in the European Theater in World War II. New York: Oxford University Press, 1969.

46) Mattingly, Garrett. The Armada. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1959.

47) Millett, Allan. Semper Fidelis: The History of the United States Marine Corps. New York: MacMillan, 1980.

48) Millis, Walter. Arms and Men: A Study of American Military History. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1981 <1957>.

49) Nef, John U. War and Human Progress: An Essay on the Rise of Industrial Civilization. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1950.

50) O'Connell, Robert L. Of Arms and Men: A History of War, Weapons, and Aggression. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.

51) Oman, Charles W. C. The Art of War in the Middle Ages, A.D. 378-1515. Revised Edition. Edited by John Beeler. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1953.

52) Parker, Geoffrey. The Army of Flanders and the Spanish Road: 1567-1659. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1972.

53) Parker, Harold. Three Napoleonic Battles. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1973 <1944>.

54) Polybius. The Histories of Polybius. Tr. by S. Shuckburgh and F. Huitisch. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1962.

55) Posen, Barry R. The Sources of Military Doctrine: France, Britain, and Germany Between the World Wars. Cornell Studies in Security Affairs. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1984.

56) Quimby, Robert S. The Background of Napoleonic Warfare. New York: AMS Press, 1968 <1957>.

57) Redlich, Fritz. The German Military Enterpriser and His Work Force: A Study in European Economic and Social History. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner, 1964-5.

58) Ritter, Gerhard. The Sword and the Scepter: The Problem of Militarism in Germany. Tr. by Heinz Norden. Coral Gables, FL: University of Miami Press, 1969-1973.

59) Rosen, Stephen, ed. Testing the Theory of the Military Industrial Complex. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath, 1973.

60) Saxe, Maurice, Comte de. Reveries or Memoires on the Art of War. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1971 <1757>.

61) Schelling, Thomas. The Strategy of Conflict. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1960.

62) Sherry, Michael S. The Rise of American Air Power: The Creation of Armageddon. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987.

63) Sprout, Harold, and Margaret Sprout. The Rise of American Naval Power, 1776-1918. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1939.

64) Starr, Chester G. The Influence of Sea Power on Ancient History. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.

65) Strachan, Hew. European Armies and the Conduct of War. London: Allen Unwin, 1983.

66) Trask, David. The War with Spain in 1898. New York: Macmillan, 1981.

67) Turney-High, Hugh H. Primitive Warfare: Its Practices and Concepts. 2d ed. Columbia, University of South Carolina Press, 1971.

68) Vagts, Alfred. A History of Militarism: Civilian and Military. Revised Edition. n.p.: Meridian Books, 1959 <1937>.

69) Van Creveld, Martin. Supplying War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977.

70) Vegetius, Flavius Renatus. The Military Institutions of the Romans. Tr. by John Clark. Ed. by Thomas R. Phillips. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1985.

71) Wedgewood, C.V. The Thirty Years' War. Harmondsworth: Pelican Books, 1958 <1937>.

72) Weinberg, Gerhard. A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.

73) Whelan, Richard. Drawing the Line: The Korean War, 1950-1953. Boston: Little, Brown, 1990.

74) White, Lynn. Medieval Technology and Social Change. Oxford:Clarendon Press, 1962.

75) Yadin, Yigael. The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands in the Light of Archaeological Study. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1963.