The Ultimate Reading List: 10 Books Every Aspiring Officer Should Read

When you are interviewed at Main Board, you will almost certainly be asked about the last book you read. It sounds like a throwaway question, but it isn't. Your answer tells the interviewing officer a lot about how you think, what you're curious about, and whether you actually take an interest in your own intellectual development. You want a good answer.

I've put together what I think are the ten best books for anyone preparing to become a British Army officer. A few quick notes. First, I've deliberately stayed away from anything too philosophical. Sun Tzu and Clausewitz are endlessly quoted, but they're dense, abstract, and not especially useful. Second, I've only included books I've actually read. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to tell you why they matter.

For my money, these ten books will give you a solid foundation in leadership, tactics, decision-making, and the realities of military life. Some are written by soldiers, some by academics, and some by people who have never worn a uniform. All of them are worth your time.

1. The Habit of Excellence – Langley Sharp

If you only read one book on this list, make it this one. Lieutenant Colonel (Retd) Langley Sharp MBE is a former Parachute Regiment officer who served on operations in Northern Ireland, Macedonia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. He is also the former Head of the Centre for Army Leadership. In other words, he really knows what he's talking about.

If you want to talk about leadership in a way that your interviewing officer will immediately recognise, this is the book. It breaks down how leaders in the British Army operate at every rank, from corporal to colonel and beyond. That means you'll get a real sense of what life as a platoon commander looks like, what a company commander deals with, and how the responsibilities change as your career progresses.

A real strength is the way that it sets out the differences between officer and NCO leadership. The best officers and NCOs carry out completely different functions but complement one another perfectly, and he describes exactly how this works. Understanding that dynamic will serve you well throughout your career.

2. Action Centred Leadership – John Adair

John Adair developed his Action Centred Leadership model while lecturing at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. First published in 1973 and visualised as three interlocking circles, his model centres on three overlapping responsibilities: task, team, and individual. A good leader balances all three. Neglect the task and nothing gets done. Neglect the team and cohesion breaks down. Neglect the individual and you lose people.

If you want a measure of how seriously the Army takes Adair's thinking, the programme that overhauled the commissioning course, introduced in 2024, was named Project Adair. That's not a coincidence. As the diagram shows, the model is simple enough to remember under pressure and robust enough to apply in almost any leadership situation you'll face. It's a framework you'll use from day one at Sandhurst and throughout your career.

It's also a nice easy read. Perfect for a long train journey to Westbury if you haven't yet got a go-to book to discuss in your interview.

3. Infantry Attacks – Erwin Rommel

This book will help you understand the essentials of soldiering. Long before he became a Field Marshal, Erwin Rommel was a young infantry officer in the First World War. This book is his personal account of that time. Rather than dense theory, it reads like a series of practical tactical breakdowns. He lays out the terrain, the specific problems in front of him, the decisions he made, and exactly what happened next.

I've recommended this over Sun Tzu's Art of War, which is entirely philosophical, and Clausewitz's On War, which is heavily political. Rommel is concrete. You'll come away with a genuine understanding of infantry tactics, including fire and movement, the importance of ground, and the chaos of contact.

The commissioning course is built on the infantry model, so when you're on exercise in the field and wondering what on earth is going on, this book will have given you a head start. It's also a great primer for those who want to become infantry officers.

4. Turn the Ship Around! – L. David Marquet

In 2018, David Marquet spoke at the British Army Leadership Conference, held at Sandhurst. In his talk, he described how he took command of USS Santa Fe, a nuclear submarine ranked last in the US Navy for morale and retention, and turned it into one of the highest-performing ships in the fleet. This book is his account of how he did it.

The book is the best distillation of Mission Command, the core leadership philosophy of the British Army, that I've come across. The idea is simple: tell people what to achieve and why, then trust them to work out how. It's baked into the design of the British Army's combat estimate process, for example, where the commander sets the intent and then trusts subordinates to work out how to achieve it.

It's also a genuinely enjoyable read. Marquet writes clearly and the submarine setting makes for compelling storytelling. You could get through it in a few days and come away with a much deeper understanding of why the British Army leads the way it does. If you don't have the time to read it, this 10-minute YouTube video summarises his ideas perfectly.

5. Team of Teams – General Stanley McChrystal

When General (Retd) McChrystal took command of the US Joint Special Operations Command in Iraq in 2004, the most powerful special operations force in the world was losing to Al Qaeda in Iraq. They had superior numbers, equipment, and training, but the enemy was a decentralised network that moved too quickly for the JSOC military hierarchy to respond effectively.

McChrystal's solution was to fundamentally restructure how JSOC operated – breaking down silos, sharing intelligence in real time, and introducing a daily operational stand-up that connected teams across the entire theatre. The results were staggering. JSOC went from conducting roughly 15 operations per month to 300, with minimal increases in manpower.

This book is essential reading for understanding how organisational structure either enables or cripples effectiveness. It also shows you the type of strategic decisions that Generals must make during a war. For those short on time, here is a video of General (Retd) McChrystal speaking on the topic at RUSI, in London, in 2016.

6. Changing of the Guard – Simon Akam

This one might surprise you a little bit. Changing of the Guard is a detailed and stinging critique of the British Army. It attacks its institutional failings, its resistance to change, and the gap between its self-image and reality. It isn't always a comfortable read, and my view of the British Army is very different to that of Akam.

But I think it's important to go into the Army with your eyes open. It is a fantastic organisation, but it isn't perfect. Engaging with its critics forces you to think more carefully about why you want to be part of it. There is generally a kernel of truth in Akam's points, even if I disagree with many of the conclusions that he draws.

Reading this gives you a better understanding of the British Army, warts and all. And who knows, maybe one day you will be in a position to fix some of the issues he describes.

7. Rebel Ideas – Matthew Syed

Any of Matthew Syed's books could have made this list. Black Box Thinking, Bounce, and Rebel Ideas are all superb. But Rebel Ideas earns the spot for one example in particular. Syed examines Everest expeditions and shows that in cultures where obedience to authority is higher, teams tend to reach the summit faster and more often, but they are also significantly more likely to die in the process.

He does this by comparing the success rates of teams of Nepalese climbers - where openly questioning the leader happens rarely - with British teams, who are far more willing to question authority. Syed's analysis is based on the academic study "Hierarchical cultural values predict success and mortality in high-stakes teams".

The reason for the difference is straightforward. In hierarchical teams, people execute instructions quickly and without hesitation. But when someone spots a problem, for example deteriorating weather, a failing oxygen system, they don't speak up. British teams, by contrast, tend to move more slowly because they're more willing to challenge the leader's decisions, but they're safer for it.

It's a powerful illustration of how group dynamics and culture directly affect outcomes, and it's something every aspiring officer should think about. Also, it's directly relevant for aspiring Gurkha officers, who navigate these cultural differences on a daily basis.

8. Legacy – James Kerr

Legacy is the story of the New Zealand All Blacks and what makes them the most successful team in the history of professional sport. It's about culture, standards, and the relentless pursuit of excellence. They are themes that translate directly to British Army leadership.

The All Blacks famously "sweep the sheds" - even after a test match, the most senior players clean the changing room. It's a small act, but it says everything about their culture: no one is above the team. The parallels with the Army are obvious, especially the infamous weeks 1 to 5 of Sandhurst, where you will wake up each day to ensure the lines are spotless before the morning inspection.

Good officers don't ask their soldiers to do anything they wouldn't do themselves. This is a short, punchy read that will sharpen your thinking about what it means to set and maintain standards within a team.

9. Thinking, Fast and Slow – Daniel Kahneman

Kahneman's work on cognitive biases is foundational. Thinking, Fast and Slow explains the two systems that drive how we think. The first is fast, instinctive, emotional thinking and the second is slow, deliberate, logical thinking. He describes how the interplay between them leads us to make predictable errors in judgement.

This is a bit more academic, but it's really important. For an officer, understanding your own biases is critical. You'll make decisions under pressure, with incomplete information, while tired and stressed. Knowing how your brain is likely to let you down is the first step to making better decisions. If you find Kahneman a bit dense (it is a long book), Rolf Dobelli's The Art of Thinking Clearly covers similar ground in a punchier, more accessible format. Either way, understanding your biases and how they affect the way you lead is time well spent.

This is the type of information you will cover in Communication and Behaviour Sciences classes at Faraday Hall, which represents part of the academic aspect of the commissioning course.

10. Drive – Daniel Pink

Drive tackles a question that matters for every leader. What is it that actually motivates people? Pink's argument, backed by decades of research, is that external rewards – money, bonuses, incentives – don't work the way most people assume. In fact, for anything beyond simple mechanical tasks, extrinsic rewards actually decrease performance. It's completely counterintuitive. This is good news for you. As a platoon commander you certainly won't have the ability to pay your soldiers more!

What does motivate people is autonomy, mastery, and purpose. That should ring a bell if you've read the other books on this list, particularly Turn the Ship Around. As an officer, you won't be motivating your soldiers with pay rises. You'll need to give them a sense of purpose, the freedom to develop, and a reason to believe in what they're doing. Pink gives you the science behind why that works.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Use This Officer Reading List

You certainly don't need to read all ten, but if you can get through a few you will feel more confident when leadership comes up in conversation, regardless of whether that's in the academic interview, the group discussion, or just in the mess over dinner. These books won't teach you how to pass AOSB, but they'll give you the depth of understanding that separates candidates who have genuinely thought about what it means to lead from those who are winging it.

Wide reading is a natural companion to current affairs awareness. Books give you the frameworks for understanding leadership and decision-making, while current affairs give you the practical context in which those frameworks apply. Together, they form the intellectual foundation that assessors expect to see in a future officer.

Pick one, start reading, and make sure you can talk about it with conviction. Your interviewing officer will notice.