Reading list · 2026 edition

What I read, and recommend.

Books that have shaped how I think about crisis, leadership, and decision-making.

An earlier version of this list was published by the Naval Postgraduate School’s Center for Homeland Defense and Security in 2021. This edition adds four titles on why leaders get surprised, and how to see it coming. Four essays of my own follow the books.

Catastrophe and crisis

• The Great InfluenzaJohn M. Barry
• Moment of TruthKelly McKinney
• Managing CrisesArnold M. Howitt and Herman B. Leonard
• Out of the WhirlwindPhilip J. Palin
• Strengthening Post-Hurricane Supply Chain ResilienceNational Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Deciding under pressure

• Apollo 13Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger
• The Checklist ManifestoAtul Gawande
• Red TeamMicah Zenko
• The Rickover EffectTheodore Rockwell
• On Grand StrategyJohn Lewis Gaddis

Leaders and leadership

• Leaders: Myth and RealityStanley McChrystal, Jeff Eggers, and Jason Mangone
• Leadership: In Turbulent TimesDoris Kearns Goodwin
• The Fourth StarDavid Cloud and Greg Jaffe
• Radical InclusionMartin Dempsey and Ori Brafman
• Radical CandorKim Scott
• The Infinite GameSimon Sinek
• The Leader’s BookshelfJames Stavridis and R. Manning Ancell
• What You Do MattersKobi Yamada
• Ender’s GameOrson Scott Card

New in 2026: seeing it coming

• Team of TeamsStanley McChrystal, Tantum Collins, David Silverman, and Chris Fussell
• The Gray RhinoMichele Wucker
• Predictable SurprisesMax H. Bazerman and Michael D. Watkins
• The Black SwanNassim Nicholas Taleb

Essays: the Ground Truth series

Published by Bent Ear Solutions.

• The Disaster Always Has a VotePart 1
• A Forced Fit: Why HSEEP Is the Wrong Framework for Executive Crisis LeadershipPart 2
• Shrinking the Red SlicePart 3
• Common Data, Mission-Specific Pictures: Rethinking the Common Operating PicturePart 4

About Jim Featherstone