The day I decided to become a therapist, I wrote down a few books to read on the psychology of war. Over the years, the list evolved and transformed into a labor of love. Veterans and service members may find that these books bring them a sense of connection, historical perspective, or even just a good laugh. Civilians, I hope, may learn of the incredibly complex, multifaceted experiences of military service and combat. This reading list is truly a manifestation of my love and appreciation for the military community. I hope others will discover something for themselves in the pages of these wonderful books. -Shayla Hayward-Lundy

​

Memoirs
About Face: A Story of War and the Life That Follows by Brian Castner
Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body by Lyle Jeremy Rubin
House to House by David Bellavia and John Bruning
All The Ways We Kill and Die by Brian Castner
Bring Out The Dog by Will Mackin
Always Faithful by Thomas Schueman and Zainullah Zaki
Soul Patrol: The First African American LRRP Team in Vietnam by Ed Emanuel
The Mission, The Men, and Me by Pete Blaber
Eat The Apple by Matt Young
Junior Officers Reading Club by Patrick Hennessey
The Long Walk: A Story of War and the Life That Follows by Brian Castner
On Assimilation: A Transition From War by Leo Jenkins
What It Is Like to Go to War by Karl Marlantes
Unbecoming: A Memoir of Disobedience by Anuradha Bhagwati
The Rifle: Combat Stories from America's Last WWII Veterans by Andrew Biggio
Volunteers: Growing Up in the Forever War by Jerad W. Alexander
Freaks of a Feather by Kacy Tellessen 

A Final Valiant Act: The Story of Doug Dickey, Medal of Honor by John B. Lang

​

Psychology and Research
Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger
Achilles in Vietnam by Jonathan Shay
A War of Nerves: Soldiers and Psychiatrists in the 20th Century by Ben Shephard
An Intimate History of Killing by Joanna Bourke
On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society by Dave Grossman 
The War Within: Preventing Suicide in the U.S. Military by Christopher G. Pernin
Afterwar: Healing the Moral Wounds of Our Soldiers by Nancy Sherman
The Traumatic Neuroses of War by Abram Kardiner
Healing from the War by Arthur Egendorf
Surviving Survival by Laurence Gonzales
Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War by Mary Roach
Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming by Jonathan Shay
Living and Surviving in Harm's Way by Sharon Morgillo Freeman
The Great War and Modern Memory by Paul Fussell
Once a Warrior, Always a Warrior by Charles Hoge
What Have We Done: The Moral Injury of Our Longest Wars by David Wood
War and The Soul by Edward Tick
Courage After Fire by Keith Armstrong 

Journalism and War
Beyond the Call: Three Women on the Front Lines in Afghanistan by Eileen Rivers
Bravo Company by Ben Kesling
The Face of War by Martha Gellhorn
Thank You for Your Service by David Finkel
Shooting Ghosts by Thomas J. Brennan and Finbarr O'Reilly
They Fought for Each Other by Kelly Kennedy
The Good Soldiers by David Finkel
The Forever War by Dexter Filkins

General History
No Man's Land by Wendy Moore
Alone at Dawn by Dan Schilling and Lori Longfritz
Home to War: A History of the Vietnam Veterans' Movement by Gerald Nicosia
No True Glory by Bing West
For the Common Defense: A Military History of the United States by Allan R. Millett
The Future of War by Lawrence Freedman
Poetry of the First World War: An Anthology by Tim Kendall

These Fought in Any Case by TCFFFV

Rock Eater by Mason Rodrigue

Fiction
Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes
Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
2034: A Novel of the Next World War by Elliot Ackerman and James Stavridis
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

Thank you to the following veterans and service members for their contribution to this updated list: Pop Smoke Media, Back Azimuth Solutions, The Nasty Guard, and Moments in Leadership.