We are going to check out some of the best Jocko Willink book recommendations.
Jocko Willink is an author, podcaster, and United States Navy SEAL lieutenant commander, who served on SEAL Team 3. His service included time in Iraq commanding his SEAL Team during many battles and missions. He earned a Silver Star and Bronze Star Medal during his time in the Navy.
Jocko Willink has authored 6 books including 5 nonfiction books, and one fiction book. He has even authored a few children’s books called Mikey and the Dragons, and the Way of the Warrior Kid series.
Jocko Willink reads a lot of books, but has stated on a few podcasts that he doesn’t much love the process of reading. He says that he actually forces himself through many of the books that he has read. He also stated that he is an extremely slow reader and that it takes him ages to get through a book, though he spends a lot of time highlighting sections of the books that he reads. He then goes back and reads the sections over.
With his background, it’s no surprise that Jocko Willink mostly reads books about other people’s experiences during war.
Jocko Willink Book Recommendation List
Even though he isn’t a big fan of reading, he has read some good books. Here is a full list of the best Jocko Willink book recommendations:
- About Face by Colonel David H. Hackworth
- Always Faithful by Thomas Schueman
- Beyond Band of Brothers by Dick Winters
- Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
- The Dichotomy of Leadership by Jocko Willink
About Face by Colonel David H. Hackworth
About Face: The Odyssey Of An American Warrior was written by Colonel David H. Hackworth, published in 1990, and is a hefty read at about 875 pages.
On the Tim Ferris podcast, Jocko Willink recommended the book saying, “I had About Face next to my bed in Ramadi. I literally read it every night. That’s how I’d fall asleep.”
In the same podcast, he later said, “At some point about halfway through my 20-year career in the SEAL Teams, I read About Face by Colonel David H. Hackworth. I haven’t stopped reading it since. Hackworth came up through the ranks and served as an infantry officer in the Korean and Vietnam wars. He was revered by his men and respected by all who worked with him. While the stories of combat are incredible and there is so much to be learned about battlefield tactics in the book, the real lessons for me are about leadership. I adapted many of his leadership principles over the years and still continue to learn from his experiences.”
About Face is about Colonel David H. Hackworth’s life and experience during the Vietnam War.
He was orphaned very early in his life, and survived mostly himself until the age of 15 where he found refuge in the United States Army.
David H. Hackworth went to war in Korea when he was 20 finding many great successes that turned him into a hero for many people. He helped during the Cold War at the Berlin Wall and during the Cuban Missile Crisis, but he did not have the same sentiment about the Vietnam War.
In 1971, on national television, David Hackworth called out the Vietnam War for what it was – a doomed war effort.
In About Face, he explains everything that happened and led to the Vietnam War, why it was doomed, and how the United States government, especially The Pentagon, were completely disconnected from what was actually happening over in Vietnam. The war was a complete bureaucracy of self interest that led to the deaths of over a million people.
Veterans of the Vietnam War believe this is the greatest book of their generation because they believe this is the closest story to the reality of Vietnam.
Always Faithful by Thomas Schueman
Always Faithful: A Story of the War in Afghanistan, the Fall of Kabul, and the Unshakable Bond Between a Marine and an Interpreter was written by Thomas Schueman and Zainullah Zaki. It was published in 2022, and the book has 336 pages.
Jocko Willink recommended Always Faithful on Twitter, writing, “350 is up with Major Tom Schueman, USMC. He fought hard battles in Sangin, Afghanistan. Later, he fought administratively to rescue his interpreter from the Taliban. SEMPER FI.”
Always Faithful watches how the United States dramatically left Afghanistan after nearly 20 years over war in the country. The Americans left so swiftly that they left behind many of the Afghan people who helped them during the war. Afghanistan fell just days after the Americans left leaving many of those left behind in an extremely dangerous situation.
Thomas Schueman wasn’t going to leave behind his friend and long time Afghan interpreter, Zak. He fought hard on social media and behind the scenes to get him and his family safely out of Afghanistan and into the United States.
Written together, Thomas and Zak explain their stories of how they ended up in Afghanistan together, how they fought for America in a dangerous country, and how, as they attempted to build a meaningful future for themselves, ended up being so committed to each other that they ended up saving each other’s lives.
Always Faithful explores the many sides of the war in Afghanistan in a heart-pounding and thrilling story told from two different perspectives to help understand whether this war was worth the 20 years.
Beyond Band of Brothers by Dick Winters
Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters was written by Dick Winters, published in 2008, and is 320 pages long.
In another interview on the Tim Ferris podcast, Jocko Willink recommended the book, Beyond Band of Brothers, saying, “Again, it’s not always clear that oh, here’s the leadership principle; here’s what you should be doing. No, it’s not always clear like that. But when you understand what people are going through emotionally and you start to get a glimpse at human nature and how people react in certain situations and how their egos flare up, that’s what makes these books good. Because it gives you a frame of reference.”
Beyond Band of Brothers is the memoir of Dick Winters, the legendary commander of Easy Company, otherwise known as the Band of Brothers.
This is the story of the commander who helped liberate Europe during World War II.
He was a part of the D-Day invasion suffering many casualties while under fire. His commander was shot and killed during the battle, and Dick Winters quickly took the lead of the Band of Brothers and led them through the Battle of the Bulge. By the time they finally arrived in Germany all the members of the squad had been injured.
The book is a combination of Dick Winter’s own journal and also the journals of his fellow squadmates.
Beyond Band of Brothers is a must read for any World War II history buff.
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West was written by Cormac McCarthy. The book was published in 1985, and contains 368 pages.
Jocko Willink said, “Was able to show the darkness in humanity and there’s nothing pleasant in any way, shape or form.”
The book follows an unnamed teenager referred to as “the kid” on the Texas-Mexico border during the 1850s.
The book is the kid’s experience during his time with the Glanton gang. The gang’s members are scalp hunters, chasing and massacring Native Americans for pleasure and profit.
The kid joins the group when he meets the completely hairless Judge Holden who he believes is helping to defend locals from rogue Apaches. He quickly learns that the gang really just wants to murder Native Americans and other Mexicans who are otherwise minding their own business.
The book is based on real events that happened at this place and time in American history and gives us a glimpse at some of the things that happened that were left out of our school’s history books.
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Animal Farm was written by George Orwell. The book was published back in 1945. It is a short read at around 140 pages.
Jocko Willink had a glowing recommendation of this book when he tweeted, “There is a book called Animal Farm. You should check it out.”
George Orwell’s Animal Farm is a book about society, philosophy, and even has a dystopian vibe like many of his other works.
Animal Farm takes place on a farm where literal talking animals take over the farm in a revolution because they do not like how they are treated by the farmer. They hope to create a farm that is equal, free, and happy.
One of the pigs, Napoleon, becomes so obsessed with power that he creates a dictator-type atmosphere on the farm, and it is nothing like the peaceful society all of the other animals wished to have.
With Napoleon at the helm the farm gets so bad that it is worse than with the farmer, and many of the animals start to come up with a plan to overthrow him as well. How will the animals fare against Napoleon in the adult-like fairy tale?
Fun fact: The theme of Animal Farm is based on the events that happened in the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Stalinist era.
The Dichotomy of Leadership by Jocko Willink
The Dichotomy of Leadership: Balancing the Challenges of Extreme Ownership to Lead and Win by Jocko Willink was the 3rd book he published. It came out in 2018, and has 320 pages.
The book was co-authored by New York Times bestseller Leif Babin. The pair had authored a book previously together called Extreme Ownership in 2015.
The Dichotomy of Leadership takes a deep dive into leadership by building on a framework of balance. They argue that a leader can be pulled this way and that during events, and navigating the balance is what makes a great leader.
These two highly skilled leaders teach us that people who lead need to know when is a good time to take charge and when to follow. Good leaders can aggressively maneuver between the balance of taking action and letting things develop in the background.
Jocko Willink uses his combat experience and leadership skills to teach us many valuable lessons. He says that in his book we will learn how to take ownership for anything that can impact a mission, how to care deeply about the people in their organization, and how to make sure that each person has their own individual successes that make the group successful overall.
The Dichotomy of Leadership will help any team achieve the goal of victory.