Why am I passionate about this?

As a veteran of the United States Army Special Operations Command, my time in the army will always guide my actions. When I began my career in cybersecurity and later took on the role of President and Chair of Conquest Cyber, I looked to my military experience for guidance. The lessons I learned from leaders were much like those I’ve learned through these books, and they are lessons that will benefit any leader, business owner, or founder. 


I wrote

All the War They Want: Special Operations Techniques for Winning in Cyber Warfare, Business, and Life

By Jeffrey J Engle,

Book cover of All the War They Want: Special Operations Techniques for Winning in Cyber Warfare, Business, and Life

What is my book about?

All the War They Want presents counterintuitive problem-solving techniques, using as its case in point one of the most existential…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Founder Brand: Turn Your Story Into Your Competitive Advantage

Jeffrey Engle Why did I love this book?

Becoming a founder is not for the faint of heart. It requires you to be bold, creative, and innovative—if you want to be successful, that is.

The thing that stands out about this book to me is that it takes the bold heart of a leader and transforms it into a brand. 

Dave guides you through marketing yourself and your brand—teaching key lessons for start-up success. His tactical approach serves as a guidebook or a battle plan to take both you and your company to the next level.

By Dave Gerhardt,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Founder Brand as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

You're part of an elite group of builders, creators, and innovators who have accomplished something few can claim: you've founded a company. Now the challenge of standing out in the crowd begins-and how you differentiate yourself counts.


Building a brand and growing a business can be expensive and time-consuming. But you have a key advantage and secret strategy, one that will set you apart no matter your industry, product, or company size. You have a story, and it's one of your most valuable assets.

In Founder Brand, marketing expert Dave Gerhardt reveals how to build your brand by positioning yourself…


Book cover of Delta Force: A Memoir by the Founder of the U.S. Military's Most Secretive Special-Operations Unit

Jeffrey Engle Why did I love this book?

As the founder and first commanding officer of Delta Force, Col. Charles Beckwith has been a long-term role model for me. When beginning my corporate career, it was only natural for his example to influence my actions. 

Col. Beckwith saw a gap in the U.S. army’s capabilities and pushed to create Delta. This is the spirit of Conquest—recognizing the gaps of America’s cybersecurity and pushing companies beyond compliance towards resiliency. For any leader or motivated business person, reading Delta Force will inspire you to push for what you believe in.

By Charlie A Beckwith, Donald Knox,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Delta Force as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Wanted: Volunteers for Project Delta. Will guarantee you a medal. A body bag. Or both. When Charlie Beckwith issued this call to arms in Vietnam in 1965, he revolutionized American armed combat. This is the story of what would eventually come to be known as Delta Force, as only its maverick creator could tell it - from the bloody baptism of Vietnam to the top-secret training grounds of North Carolina to political battles in the upper levels of the Pentagon itself. This is the heart-pounding, first-person, insider's view of the missions that made Delta Force legendary. Through it all, the…


Book cover of Tier One Wild

Jeffrey Engle Why did I love this book?

Even corporate America needs heroes. While Tier One Wild is fiction, it was written by a true hero, Dalton Fury. Fury was the senior ranking officer in the Battle of Tora Bora. He helped author the operation to hunt and kill bin Laden. 

This book, the second in the Raynor series, has the flair of someone who has been there as Fury has been. Its fast moving and includes elements of both redemption and sacrifice. While this would be easy to dismiss as fiction or another war story, readers will be surprised by how applicable the lessons can be in the business world.  

By Dalton Fury,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Tier One Wild as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

New York Times bestselling author and former Delta Force commander Dalton Fury (Black Site and Kill Bin Laden) is back with an explosive new thriller

Former disgraced Delta Force commander Kolt "Racer" Raynor has earned his way back into The Unit after redeeming himself during an explosive operation at a black site in Pakistan. But he is about to face his deadliest challenge yet.

The most wanted man in the world, American al Qaeda commander Daoud al Amriki, and his handpicked team of terrorist operatives, have acquired stores of Russian-built, shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles (SAM's) from ex-Libyan spies in Cairo. Their…


Book cover of Amp It Up: Leading for Hypergrowth by Raising Expectations, Increasing Urgency, and Elevating Intensity

Jeffrey Engle Why did I love this book?

A newer favorite, Amp It Up is a book I wish I could have read as I first took the helm at Conquest Cyber. Even still, it's full of knowledge for anyone looking to lead or grow a company. While it is easy to fall into the mindset that you do not have the resources for rapid growth, it does not necessarily take consultants, added employees, or financial investment to grow a company to its full potential. This book shows you how to maximize the resources you have—eliminating mediocrity from your ranks and relentlessly elevating your mission.  

By Frank Slootman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Amp It Up as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly Bestseller

The secret to leading growth is your mindset

Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman is one of the tech world's most accomplished executives in enterprise growth, having led Snowflake to the largest software IPO ever after leading ServiceNow and Data Domain to exponential growth and the public market before that. In Amp It Up: Leading for Hypergrowth by Raising Expectations, Increasing Urgency, and Elevating Intensity, he shares his leadership approach for the first time.

Amp It Up delivers an authoritative look at what it takes to transform an organization for maximum growth and…


Book cover of Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World

Jeffrey Engle Why did I love this book?

I’m a proud fighter against the conventional. Bigger is not necessarily better; Compliance is not enough. General McChrystal spends much of his book sharing in this mindset. His experience leading the Joint Special Operation Task Force in their efforts to take down Al Qaeda is inspiring, but for those less military-minded leaders, he shares other examples of where small and agile teams have found success in a hospital ER to NASA. It’s bold, fun to read, and fast-paced. Team of Teams is worth the read for leaders at any stage of their career. 

By Stanley McChrystal, Tantum Collins, David Silverman

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Team of Teams as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

As commander of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), General Stanley McChrystal discarded a century of management wisdom and pivoted from a pursuit of mechanical efficiency to organic adaptability.

In this book, he shows how any organization can make the same transition to act like a team of teams - where small groups combine the freedom to experiment with a relentless drive to share their experience.

Drawing on a wealth of evidence from his military career and sources as diverse as hospital emergency rooms and NASA's space program, McChrystal frames the existential challenge facing today's organizations, and presents a compelling, effective…


Explore my book 😀

All the War They Want: Special Operations Techniques for Winning in Cyber Warfare, Business, and Life

By Jeffrey J Engle,

Book cover of All the War They Want: Special Operations Techniques for Winning in Cyber Warfare, Business, and Life

What is my book about?

All the War They Want presents counterintuitive problem-solving techniques, using as its case in point one of the most existential threats to our national security and American way of life: cyber warfare. Informed by Jeffrey Engle’s experience as a member of the U.S. military’s elite special ops community, his Brazilian jiujitsu training, and his leadership of a premier cyber defense company, All the War They Want offers an alternative perspective on overcoming tough leadership challenges―a perspective previously available only to those bearing the scars of a lifetime at war.

All the War They Want shows you what rules and conventions to break to stack the deck in your favor, giving you the competitive edge in business and in life.

Book cover of Founder Brand: Turn Your Story Into Your Competitive Advantage
Book cover of Delta Force: A Memoir by the Founder of the U.S. Military's Most Secretive Special-Operations Unit
Book cover of Tier One Wild

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Elephant Safari

By Peter Riva,

Book cover of Elephant Safari

Peter Riva Author Of Kidnapped on Safari

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been to, and loved, North, Central, and especially East Africa for over fifty years. Only six times have I been to Africa on holiday; more often, perhaps twenty or more times, as a television producer. Working in Africa gains a perspective of reality that the glories of vacation do not. Each has its place, each its pitfalls like stalled plane rides with emergency landings in the bush or attacks by wildlife. But, in the end, the magic of the “otherness,” what an old friend called “primitava” captures one’s soul and changes your life.

Peter's book list on the otherness that few get to experience

What is my book about?

Keen to rekindle their love of East African wildlife adventures after years of filming, extreme dangers, and rescues, producer Pero Baltazar, safari guide Mbuno Waliangulu, and Nancy Breiton, camerawoman, undertake a filming walking adventure north of Lake Rudolf, crossing from Kenya into Ethiopia along the Omo River, following a herd of elephant making their annual migration.

Stumbling onto an elephant poaching, the team become embroiled in true financing of terrorism for al Shabaab –ivory sales–and are determined to stop the slaughter at any cost. Ivory trade financing terrorism involves UN refugee camps with two hundred thousand displaced Somali persons, powerful…

Elephant Safari

By Peter Riva,

What is this book about?

A documentary team hiking through East Africa collides with a gang of deadly poachers, in this gripping adventure by the author of Kidnapped on Safari.

Years of filming, extreme dangers, and daring rescues have taken their toll on documentary producer Pero Baltazar and his team. To relax and reconnect with the East African wildlife they love, Pero organizes a walking safari for him, his camerawoman Nancy Breiton, and their elite guide Mbuno Waliangulu. Still, Pero has trouble truly disconnecting from work. When the team comes across a herd of elephants making their annual migration north of Lake Rudolf, Pero decides…


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