When the world's at stake,
go beyond the headlines.

You can tell a lot about a person from what fiction they keep on their nightstand. Once a year, we make the staff, contributing editors, and show hosts of War on the Rocks tell on themselves.

Kerry Anderson

The Midnight Library, Matt Haig (2020). Drawing on evergreen themes from books and movies such as Sliding Doors or It’s a Wonderful Life, The Midnight Library puts a fresh spin on questions like what’s the meaning of life, how does our presence (or absence) in the world affect those around us, what would have happened if we had made different choices, and are there parallel universes? Despite the complexity of such questions, the story flows smoothly. A colleague recommended this book to me, and I’ve really enjoyed it.

The Frozen River, Ariel Lawhon (2024). I’m not usually a big fan of murder mysteries, but I had a great time reading this one. Set in Maine right after the American Revolution, the indomitable heroine is a wife, mother, and midwife who plays an essential role in her community. So, when a body shows up in the icy river, she goes to work uncovering the complex truth.

Emma Ashford

Dungeon Crawler Carl series, Matt Dinniman (2020 to present). My new obsession is the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, a zany video game-inspired sci-fi series that explores the aftermath of an alien invasion of Earth. Our hero Carl, along with his pet cat Princess Donut, is forced into an artificial dungeon game, where he must fight for his life for the entertainment of alien audiences throughout the galaxy. It’s silly, escapist, and utterly ridiculous. It’s also, surprisingly, a great meditation on oligarchy and resistance to unjust systems.

Ian Brown

Night Witches (2019), The Stringbags (2020), and Partisan (2025), Garth Ennis. I largely knew Garth Ennis from his run on the Punisher MAX and The Boys comic book series, so I was stunned when, on a random visit to the International Spy Museum in Washington, I saw his name on something that looked like it was grounded in the real world: Night Witches. I found that Ennis was just as good in historical fiction as he was depicting deviant supermen hyped up on Compound V. Each of these graphic novels focuses on real history while weaving in broader themes representative of the wars they depict. Night Witches is the story of Russian women given obsolete aircraft out of desperation during the Nazi invasion. They turned obsolescence into German terror as a night bombing squadron. The Stringbags tells the tale of the British Swordfish biplane, and how old technology — while potentially still useful when employed in unique ways — nevertheless only takes you so far when everyone else is innovating around you. Partisan depicts the brutal behind-the-lines fighting on the Eastern Front in World War II with a theme recognizable to anyone who’s been in combat: There are things you can never tell your family when it’s all over.

Roadside Picnic, Arkady and Boris Strugatsky (1972). I got a lot of grief from some of my equally nerdy co-workers when I confessed I’d never read or even heard of Roadside Picnic. Some might know aspects of the story through the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. media series, but before it was a video game, it was a short novel about an alien visitation on Earth that omits explanation or feel-good interspecies endings. Aliens land on Earth, leave again without communicating, and at their landing sites are piles of technology that defy human understanding. The book follows “stalkers” who are willing to brave the risks of the landing zones to pull out potentially profitable technology, though they’re equally likely to recover useless items or die horribly in the effort. Are the stalkers heroes, mundane utility workers, or adrenaline junkies? Can one derive purpose from things that are beyond — potentially forever — human understanding? For a short work, Roadside Picnic packs a lot of punches and refuses easy answers to hard questions.

Dave Deptula

Twelve O’Clock High, Beirne Lay Jr. and Sy Bartlett (1948). This work remains one of the most powerful fictional treatments of military leadership, morale, and sacrifice in war. Its portrait of a U.S. Army Air Forces bomber group in World War II captures the psychological strain of sustained air combat and the burden commanders carry when lives and mission success are inseparable.

The Hunters, James Salter (1956). Salter captures the Korean War fighter pilot’s world with rare authenticity and literary restraint. The novel is not simply about aerial combat; it’s about ambition, reputation, fear, courage, and the quiet loneliness of men who live under constant pressure to prove themselves in the air. Its power comes from showing airpower through the inner life of the pilot: the professionalism, rivalry, and moral weight behind each mission.

Ryan Evans

The Fall, Albert Camus (1956). This is short but discomfiting read. The protagonist is odious, if at times amusing, and the novel is written as an extended first-person monologue. I read it as an exploration of the pathologies of modern man: hypocrisy, vanity, cowardice, and self-deception. We all recognize traces of these flaws in ourselves from time to time, but the unsettling power of the novel lies in forcing us to confront where they can lead if left unchecked.

Erewhon, Samuel Butler (1872). I enjoyed this remarkable book that anticipates many of the seemingly ultra-modern anxieties of AI. I came across it as I was doing research for something I was trying to write (and still am). A 19th century British wanderer comes across a civilization that reached vast technological heights ages ago only to outlaw them.

Madeline Field

Oromay, Baalu Girma (1983). Ethiopia’s most famous novel, translated last year into English, created such a sensation that the author disappeared shortly after the book was first published, likely murdered by the state. The book follows the story of a propagandist sent to capture the Ethiopian government’s brutal attempt to crush the Eritrean rebels during the 1982 Red Star Campaign. While the translation can be dry, it’s romantic, action-packed, and ultimately a sobering reflection on communism and extreme violence.

The Alice Network, Kate Quinn (2017). In my view, the perfect beach novel is both action-packed and easy to read. This book is beach-tested and beach-approved. It details the story of a pregnant New York socialite searching for her cousin in the aftermath of World War II, and her unlikely companions: a Scottish ex-convict and a former British female spy. Although it has plenty of twists and romance to keep you occupied, this book also dives into the almost unbelievable story of a female British spy network in World War I.

Richard Fontaine

Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004). An elegant, beautifully written novel about a Congregationalist minister reaching the end of life. The book made a big splash back in 2004 and is still worth reading. Not every day you get a contemporary novel set in the 1950s, seasoned with a dash of Calvinist theology.

Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (2000). Okay, it’s not fiction but rather a two-part autobiographical graphic novel. Indulge me. Satrapi, who died this June, told the story of her upbringing in Tehran during the Islamic revolution and then her subsequent life in Europe. It’s galvanizing and humanizing. Read it. Her graphic novel Chicken With Plums is good too.

Ulrike Franke

Rivers of London, Ben Aaronovitch (2011). This is the perfect summer read for all London lovers. It is set in today’s London — with all the places and quirks you may recognize — only that it also has magic. A young police officer solves magical crimes: It is fun, it is entertaining, it is the perfect summer escape. And if you prefer to keep your eyes on the ocean, the audiobook version read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith is a pure delight.

The Death of Grass, John Christopher (1956). Be warned, this is an apocalypse/post-apocalypse book. I don’t usually like these, but this 1956 classic is so good, so convincing, I keep thinking about it years after having read it. Plus, there is something to be learned about defenses and attacks, which may make this a particularly interesting read for War on the Rocks readers.

Nicholas Hanson

Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War, Karl Marlantes (2010). Matterhorn follows 2nd Lt. Waino Mellas and his Marine company as they fight to take, abandon, and retake a remote hilltop firebase near the Laotian border during the Vietnam War. Drawing on the author’s own combat experience, it captures the brutal absurdity of jungle warfare, from leeches and monsoon rain to the careerist commanders and racial tensions that plagued the men as much as the enemy did. At its core, it’s a story about leadership and the impossible choices small-unit leaders face when survival and duty pull in opposite directions. Decades in the making, Matterhorn stands as one of the finest novels ever written about the Vietnam War.

For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway (1940). For Whom the Bell Tolls follows Robert Jordan, a young American attached to a band of anti-fascist guerrillas in the mountains of Spain during the Spanish Civil War. Tasked with destroying a strategic bridge behind enemy lines, he is caught between the demands of his mission, the loyalties of the group he’s joined, and an unexpected love affair with Maria, a young woman scarred by the war. The novel wrestles with what it means to commit to a doomed cause and how a person finds meaning in the time he has left. Written in Hemingway’s unmistakable prose, it endures as one of the great American novels about duty, sacrifice, and the moral weight of war.

Bruce Hoffman

Passage of Arms, Eric Ambler (1960). Ambler is one of the great spy and thriller writers of the 20th century. He arguably invented the genre with his classic work, A Coffin for Dimitrios (1939 aka The Mask of Dimitrios), but is sadly mostly forgotten. This is a great pity because this lesser-known work, Passage of Arms, is a masterpiece of suspense. It concerns an innocent American couple, on a once-in-a-lifetime Far East ocean cruise, who become enmeshed with arms traffickers, insurgents, corrupt businessmen, xenophobic military officers, wily intelligence agents, and an insufferable dinner companion who is the cause of it all.

The Jackal’s Mistress, Chris Bohjalian (2025). Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley was the breadbasket of the Confederacy during the U.S. Civil War. Accordingly, regular army units from both sides, rebel guerrilla bands, and shadowy brigands regularly clashed with one another and more often victimized the land’s civilians. Freed slaves and their former owners were a particular source of intense enmity and therefore danger. Bohjalian is a well-established thriller writer who has written an engrossing novel of life (and death) focused on a strong and resilient Southern woman and a seriously wounded Union army officer — the mistress and jackal of this novel’s title.

Daisy Johnston

Lincoln in the Bardo, George Saunders (2017). While Abraham Lincoln served as president of the United States, he lost his son, William Wallace Lincoln, also known as Willie. In Lincoln in the Bardo, George Saunders writes about family relationships and grief through a supernatural telling of Willie’s death. It’s an emotional book that teaches readers about loss, letting go, and recommitting themselves to the cause of the Civil War — or whatever their respective challenges may be.

Rick Landgraf

The Ugly American, Eugene Burdick and William J. Lederer (1958). The term “ugly American” has come to represent the ignorance and conceit displayed by some Americans abroad. Burdick and Lederer deftly contrast rude and incompetent diplomats with Americans who humbly immerse themselves in the native way of life in the imaginary country of Sarkhan. Recommended reading for servicemembers prior to an overseas assignment.

David Maxwell

The Fire Agent, David Baerwald (2026). I believe historical fiction is useful, and the Office of Strategic Services historical connection resonates with me. What makes this story significant is not espionage alone but the moral ambiguity of strategic choice. Ernst Baerwald appears to embody a recurring dilemma in statecraft: When confronting totalitarian regimes, individuals may find themselves forced to choose between competing loyalties, imperfect allies, and actions that carry devastating human consequences. Intelligence work often operates in that gray zone between necessity and morality.

The Young Will Remember, Eve J. Chung (2026). This is probably the most important Korea-related novel published in 2026 (and this is my Korean security bias showing). It follows a Chinese-American war correspondent trapped behind enemy lines during the Korean War and examines the conflict through the experiences of Korean women and civilians caught between armies and ideologies. While historical fiction, it deals directly with legitimacy, survival, identity, and the human terrain of war. It is so beautifully written that I gifted a copy to our daughter, who is a high school AP literature teacher.

Michael Mazarr

Rules of Civility, Amor Towles (2011). A sort of modified coming-of-age story told from a slight remove, from the perspective of a young woman crowding into the fancy New York social scene in the 1930s. If I listed the sum total of events in the story, you wouldn’t think it could be as compelling as it is. That’s down to Towles’s brilliant prose and dialogue. A constant marvel.

The Imperfectionists, Tom Rachman (2011). At once a timely and still reflection on the crisis of journalism and a funny and at times moving distraction from our traumatic era, it’s the story of a teetering English-language newspaper in Italy. Absorbing characters, wonderful dialogue, great fun.

Collin Meisel

Red Sorghum, Mo Yan (1993). A novel which contributed to Mo Yan’s receipt of the Nobel Prize in Literature, Red Sorghum vividly traces the joys and horrors of several generations of a Chinese family surviving through China’s warlord period and subsequent Japanese occupation. While a fictional account, the novel, in both broad narrative arcs and in specifics, such as instances of Japanese atrocities, closely traces historical reality. In this way, it arguably provides readers with a better, deeper understanding of what would have been formative experiences for the founders of the People’s Republic of China — many of whom were the parents of those in the top echelons of China today.

A Perfect Spy, John le Carré (1986). This novel offers Cold War intrigue and psychological insight into what can turn spies against the countries they have sworn to serve. Specifically, Le Carré illustrates that what makes for a good intelligence officer can also make for, and even lead one to become, a good double agent. It’s also a fun and, despite the word count, fast read.

Walker Mills

Red Tide, M.P. Woodward (2025). Red Tide joins the ranks of Ghost Fleet, 2034, and White Sun War as the newest edition of the “China fights America in World War III” genre. It’s a page turner that hits just right as a summer read. It will get your mind spinning, even if some of the character arcs are a bit of a stretch.

Jonathan Panter

The Sea Wolf, Jack London (1904). A psychological thriller about resilience and standing one’s ground in defense of principle, honor, and ethics, against materialism and fatalism. The plot follows an intellectual rescued at sea by a tyrannical but highly intelligent captain of a sealing schooner. A story of what makes a man truly admirable, perhaps more relevant now than ever, in the era of misanthropic, nihilistic ideologies and behaviors that the internet and AI seem to foster.

Grace Parcover

The First Ladies, Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray (2023). Inspired by the real-life friendship between First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and educator and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune, the novel tells the story of two formidable women who built a partnership across the divides of race and politics. Together, they push for desegregation, anti-lynching legislation, and civil rights. Set against the Depression and World War II, the book explores how their friendship helped form the foundation of the modern civil rights movement.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, V.E. Schwab (2020). In 1714, a young Frenchwoman fleeing a marriage she never wanted strikes a desperate bargain with a dark god, winning the freedom of immortality at a devastating cost: She will be forgotten by everyone she meets the moment she leaves their sight. After nearly 300 years of anonymity, everything shifts when she encounters a young man in a New York bookstore who, impossibly, remembers her name. What unfolds is a story about memory, identity, and what it means to leave a mark on the world.

Anastasiia Savenko

Hard to Be a God, Arkady and Boris Strugatsky (1964). The Strugatskys’ 1964 science fiction sends Earth observers undercover on a medieval-stage planet, sworn to record history without intervening. Hard to Be a God is not a book that gives you a clear lesson about right and wrong, and it is not an easy read. While reading it, you will likely end up criticizing most of the protagonist’s decisions; he is neither a hero nor a villain — just a human. The book leaves an aftertaste, and years after my first reading, I still find myself returning to the questions it raises. What really separates us, modern people, from those of previous centuries? Strip away the comforts of technology, and the laws of force, fear, and submission may lie closer to the surface than we’d like to think.

Kori Schake

War Music, Christopher Logue (2001). Logue didn’t read ancient Greek, but he was a soldier, poet, and pornographer — the perfect combination for interpreting Homer’s Iliad. Here’s his fresh interpretation of Odysseus inspired to fight: “Athena stood beside Odysseus / and ran her finger down his spine.”

Slow Horses, Mick Herron (2010). All 11 books Herron has written in the Slow Horses series so far (he continues unspooling them!) are fabulous. Tart, funny, and slow-revealing, the crucial backstory that drives both plot and characters. The TV series is also so much fun, as is doing the crosswalk of changes between the books and the TV series.

Thomas Shugart

Red Storm Rising, Tom Clancy and Larry Bond (1986). I first read Red Storm Rising as a teenager during the last years of the Cold War. Despite being very much a product of its time, I think it has significant salience today. As much as we’re enamored today with drones and autonomous systems, the novel is a reminder that cruise missiles, homing torpedoes, and other precision-guided weapons were the original one-way attack drones, and Clancy and Bond do an outstanding job of illustrating how such systems interact in a high-end conventional conflict. As the prospect of major-power war has become thinkable again, I still don’t know of a better fictional depiction of modern state-on-state warfare.

Underground Airlines, Ben H. Winters (2016). I don’t read much alternate history, but I found Underground Airlines to be a thought-provoking “what if?” story. Imagining a present-day America in which the Civil War never occurred and the evil institution of slavery endured, it is both an engrossing thriller and a sobering reminder that history is contingent — and that sometimes armed conflict, despite its own horrors, really is the only way to resolve matters that need resolving. More than anything, I found it a compelling exercise in thinking through how a single historical divergence can produce profound — and deeply disturbing — second- and third-order effects over generations.

Nicole Wiley

The Yellow Bird Sings, Jennifer Rosner (2020). Summer reading lists tend to skew light, but if you’re in the mood for something more quietly moving, this one is worth your time. This historical fiction novel follows a Jewish mother during World War II as she fights to shield her young daughter from the Nazis, unpacking her inner world with remarkable tenderness and detail. Every sentence feels deliberate, and every page surfaces something true about struggle, love, and sacrifice.

The Spy Coast, Tess Gerritsen (2023). If you can’t fully switch off from work mode (no judgment), this one threads the needle nicely. With familiar characters and strong developmental arcs, this espionage thriller offers a modern dose of the classic spy-novel formula, only this time featuring a female spy as the protagonist.

Image: Gemini