This list is not exhaustive, and I fear that I am in danger of making it uselessly long.

That said, I
will continue to update it as I realize what jems I have inadvertently left off. I would be happy to
provide more recommendations for any of these or any other categories upon request. - Andrew
Pedry

Non-Fiction
Religion and Philosophy
The Bible Along with the philosophers of Greece, the Bible is the foundation of the Western
World. Parts of it are particularly accessible, others less so. It is advisable to understand
the nature of the book of the Bible you are reading to get the most out of it.

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity. Explains the philosophical explanation for the validity of
Christianity in an incredibly accessible and engaging fashion. He has an entire series of
books explaining Christianity written in a similarly accessible style; and his The Lion, the
Witch, and the Wardrobe series are great young-adult literature.

Hagakuri. Advice to a young samurai. Valuable writings on duty, honor and purpose.

Living the Martial Way. If you like the martial arts or the idea of living a martial life
dedicated to the preservation of others this is a must-read.

Aurelius, Marcus; Meditations. Written by a Roman emperor widely respected for his
status as a warrior-philosopher this is the seminal work of the Stoic school of philosophy
applied to life.

The Qur’an. The Qur’an (or Koran) is the holy book for the second-largest faith on the planet.
Given all that is said about it in our modern cultural dialogue it’s worth reading for
yourself. Like the Bible the Qur’an is not always straightforward (for example, it is not
written as a chronological narrative), so it is worth reading about it to get the most out of
it. Be forewarned, like the Bible, there are numerous interpretive schools, some of which
are in rather stark disagreement.

Understanding and Living in our Modern World

“The Constitution of the United States”. Read it. Then read it again.

N. Carr, The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to our Brains. The internet is shaping how we
think. This book does an excellent job of explaining it.

A. Lewis, The American Culture of War: A History of US Military Force from World War II to
Operation Enduring Freedom, 2nd Edition. An excellent explanation of how and why
America fights wars. Useful for all citizens, not just those interested in military history.

Van de Mille; A Thomas Jefferson Education. Provides an overview of Classical and

self-directed education.
E.D. Hirsch, The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy. (recommended by a coworker whose taste in
books I trust a great deal) An artfully condensed description of everything a well-rounded
person ought to know, from mythology and idioms to physics and government. I used
this when I was studying to try out for Jeopardy.

Miles Harvey, The Island of Lost Maps: A True Story of Cartographic Crime. Though
perhaps not on the must-read list, this is a fascinating blend of cartographic history and
philosophy intertwined with the true story of a notorious antique map thief.

The SAS Survival Handbook. I have read a fair number of survival handbooks over the
years and this is the best I have ever come across.

Post, Emily; A Guide to Etiquette. There are a bazillion editions of this book. Get a
relatively recent one and read it. Not all at once, but as occasions arise. You’ll be
amazed how much some well-applied etiquette makes you a better person and people
around you more comfortable.

Military History
J. Keegan, The Face of Battle. This author pioneered bottom-up military history with this book.
Anything by him is worth reading, he was one of the most prominent military historians of
the 20th century.

R. Atkinson, An Army at Dawn. One of the most successful current military historians writing for
a popular audience, his work is excellent. This volume is specifically about the North
African campaign in WWII.

Sun Tsu; The Art of War. At a high level strategy can seem a mixture of the obvious and
the obscure. Keep thinking on it and consider how the principles might be applied to
real-world situations. This book is the classic military strategy text – and it’s many, many
centuries old.

US History
T. Bailey, A Diplomatic History of the American People. Written as a textbook, each
chapter is an easy-to-read size and the author’s style is not overly dense. I got a great
deal more out of this than I thought I would.

Maier, American Scripture. About the “Declaration of Independence” – how it came to be

and what inspired it. An excellent piece of scholarship.

Burkette, 50 Core American Documents. From the “Gettysburg Address” to the Monroe
Doctrine, these are a collection that deserve to be read. They’re not long, and the author
includes a useful introduction before each one.

Other History
B. Fagan, The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History, 1300-1850. Given all of the discussion
of modern climate change in our society today this is a useful book for some historical
backdrop, as well as being an interesting read in its own right. In my opinion the author
deviates from solid methodology in the last chapter, but that’s an interesting insight also!

Gies; Cathedral, Forge and Waterwheel or Life in a Medieval Village/City/Castle . The Gies
(they were a married couple) wrote excellent and accessible books about everyday life in
the middle ages. The first listed title addresses technology and technological changes in
the middle ages, the others are a series of books that address everyday life in the
period.

Kinzer, All the Shaw’s Men. A great read about the Iranian revolution and the role played by the
British and (to a lesser extent) the Americans.

Poetry
In poetry it’s important to understand the philosophical views of the writer, the society they were living in and the
outlines of the artistic movement they are writing in. Many books on poetry provide an overview of this in an
introduction; a quick dive into the internet can also provide that background.

Read the greats, they’re easy to find and worth your time.

Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon are two incredible British poets who wrote during and
about the First World War. In my opinion the best English war poetry ever written.

Theodore Roosevelt, “Man in the Arena”. Actually an excerpt from a speech, it stands alone as
a call to arms to take up the strenuous life. A must read for every American, and
certainly every American man.

Max Ehrmann, “Desiderata”. Advice for life in poetic form. Among other quotes I had this written
above my cot during my last couple of months in Iraq (once I had a cot, roof, and place
to stick things like poems!)

Literature
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In my opinion, Tolkien is one of the finest
novelists ever to write in the English language. If fantasy isn’t your thing, read it for the
writing and gloss over the orcs. He spent 14 years crafting The Lord of the Rings and
that time and care shines through. Note that it is properly a single book commonly
broken into three piece and sold as The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and
The Return of the King.

Beowulf. The original epic story in English. Heroes, monsters, epic battles, social dude
smackdowns, bromances, treasure and glory. The only thing it doesn’t include,
interestingly enough, is sex.
Hemmingway. Everyone important in every story dies tragically, so take his works like you
would fine bourbon: neat and in small sips. Like the fine bourbon Hemmingway will burn
a bit but leave you wondering why you didn’t try it before.

Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales. The original, not modern rewrites. The originals are darker and
more morally sensible then modern renditions - there something to be learned here
alongside a fascinating peek into Germanic culture.

Aesop’s Fables. The original, not modern rewrites. Wisdom is amazingly timeless.

U. Eco, Foucault's Pendulum. If you like your novels dense and intellectual you’ll love this book.
A great deal of concepts from mysticism and occultism are tied into it, but it’s

E. Kostova, The Historian. Quiet, slow, and powerful. A fantastic novel.

Tom Clancy. The modern master of the spy thriller genre. I would recommend essentially all of
his books written before 2003, with those written later not necessarily being better.

Cormac McCarthy, The Road. A harrowing vision of the love between a father and son in a
post-apocalyptic wasteland. The raw emotion, transcendent themes, and poetic
language elevate this one beyond a mere novel.

Theatre
William Shakespeare. Don’t read his plays, see them. They’re plays. Make a point of
seeing a traditional version and a contemporary retelling. Understand that most of
Shakespeare’s work was not ‘hoity-toity’, but meant to appeal to a broad audience, from
the sophisticated upper class to those entertained by toilet humor - unusually for an
author or playwright, he succeeded. As an aside, I once saw a fairly classic rendition of
A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Prague done in Czech. I didn’t understand a word of it
but I knew the plot and the physical acting drew me in - it was fantastic.

The Phantom of the Opera. Powerful. See it. It’s dark, masculine and romantic with a
deeply moving score.

Carmen. Opera for those looking for something both light and racy. An excuse to wear a
tuxedo and be entertained, not bored!

Circque de Soleil. Any of their productions are mind-blowing. Lewis Carrol meets the US
Olympic gymnastics team.