100 books like The Pentagon's Brain

By Annie Jacobsen,

Here are 100 books that The Pentagon's Brain fans have personally recommended if you like The Pentagon's Brain. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of All the President's Men

Robert Ledger and Peter Finn Author Of The Official Record: Oversight, National Security and Democracy

From my list on democracy and secrecy.

Why am I passionate about this?

I (Robert) am primarily interested in modern British history. During my postgraduate studies, I worked mainly with government papers that had just been declassified. Like many historians, I enjoy unraveling the mystery that archival research offers and shedding light on forgotten or unheard stories. Meanwhile, Peter, my co-author, is passionate about the intersection between national security and human rights. He developed this interest during his PhD research, which examined the institutionalization of torture during the Iraq War. This research relied heavily on documents released via freedom of information requests and leaks, both of which are relevant to our book on the Official Record. 

Robert's book list on democracy and secrecy

Robert Ledger and Peter Finn Why did Robert love this book?

One of the defining accounts of the original political scandal, Watergate, ultimately brought down US President Richard Nixon; Bernstein and Woodward’s book (later superbly adapted as a film starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford) is partly so intriguing because it conveys the energy of a 1970s newsroom and the surprising level of access to the Nixon administration.

Ultimately, though, this book is still vital because it brings together several themes crucial in understanding the Official Record: secrecy and its corrosive impact on democracy, whistleblowers, perceived impunity, and the impact that determined and courageous journalists can exert on the powerful.

By Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked All the President's Men as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

50th Anniversary Edition—With a new foreword on what Watergate means today.

“The work that brought down a presidency...perhaps the most influential piece of journalism in history” (Time)—from the #1 New York Times bestselling authors of The Final Days.

The most devastating political detective story of the century: two Washington Post reporters, whose brilliant, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation smashed the Watergate scandal wide open, tell the behind-the-scenes drama the way it really happened.

One of Time magazine’s All-Time 100 Best Nonfiction Books, this is the book that changed America. Published just months before President Nixon’s resignation, All the President’s Men revealed the…


Book cover of The History Thieves: Secrets, Lies and the Shaping of a Modern Nation

Robert Ledger and Peter Finn Author Of The Official Record: Oversight, National Security and Democracy

From my list on democracy and secrecy.

Why am I passionate about this?

I (Robert) am primarily interested in modern British history. During my postgraduate studies, I worked mainly with government papers that had just been declassified. Like many historians, I enjoy unraveling the mystery that archival research offers and shedding light on forgotten or unheard stories. Meanwhile, Peter, my co-author, is passionate about the intersection between national security and human rights. He developed this interest during his PhD research, which examined the institutionalization of torture during the Iraq War. This research relied heavily on documents released via freedom of information requests and leaks, both of which are relevant to our book on the Official Record. 

Robert's book list on democracy and secrecy

Robert Ledger and Peter Finn Why did Robert love this book?

Written by perhaps the best journalist who has made it their business to explore and expose the more nefarious aspects of UK foreign policy in recent decades, this book should be read by all interested in UK foreign policy.

Written in an accessible style, this book provides details about the manipulation of the UK official record in places as diverse as Kenya, Yemen, Cyprus, and the UK itself.

The book illuminates key moments in history and explains slightly confounding terms such as D-Notices and the Official Secrets Act.

By Ian Cobain,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The History Thieves as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In 1889, the first Official Secrets Act was passed, creating offences of 'disclosure of information' and 'breach of official trust'. It limited and monitored what the public could, and should, be told. Since then a culture of secrecy has flourished. As successive governments have been selective about what they choose to share with the public, we have been left with a distorted and incomplete understanding not only of the workings of the state but of our nation's culture and its past.

In this important book, Ian Cobain offers a fresh appraisal of some of the key moments in British history…


Book cover of The Nature of Technology: What It Is and How It Evolves

Daniel M. Gerstein Author Of Tech Wars: Transforming U.S. Technology Development

From my list on understanding current tech war future of humanity.

Why am I passionate about this?

Everyone uses technology, but few stop to think about where these technologies come from and what this trajectory means to humanity. During my professional career, I have dedicated myself to public service focused on security and defense as a U.S. Army officer, senior government civilian, and in think tanks, industry, and academia. My journey has taken me to over 60 countries where I have witnessed humankind's best and worst. The difference is often in how our technologies are used—to build cities, feed populations, and develop life-saving vaccines or to oppress peoples or as tools of war. 

Daniel's book list on understanding current tech war future of humanity

Daniel M. Gerstein Why did Daniel love this book?

I had never thought much about what technology was and where it came from before reading this book. This book opened my eyes and made me understand the history of humanity and the history of technology are one and the same.

The book vividly describes the theory of technology’s origin and evolution. In doing so, the author reminds us that technology creates our world, which in turn creates our wealth, our economy, and our way of being.

By W. Brian Arthur,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Nature of Technology as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“More than anything else technology creates our world. It creates our wealth, our economy, our very way of being,” says W. Brian Arthur. Yet despite technology’s irrefutable importance in our daily lives, until now its major questions have gone unanswered. Where do new technologies come from? What constitutes innovation, and how is it achieved? Does technology, like biological life, evolve? In this groundbreaking work, pioneering technology thinker and economist W. Brian Arthur answers these questions and more, setting forth a boldly original way of thinking about technology.

The Nature of Technology is an elegant and powerful theory of technology’s origins…


Book cover of Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology

Daniel M. Gerstein Author Of Tech Wars: Transforming U.S. Technology Development

From my list on understanding current tech war future of humanity.

Why am I passionate about this?

Everyone uses technology, but few stop to think about where these technologies come from and what this trajectory means to humanity. During my professional career, I have dedicated myself to public service focused on security and defense as a U.S. Army officer, senior government civilian, and in think tanks, industry, and academia. My journey has taken me to over 60 countries where I have witnessed humankind's best and worst. The difference is often in how our technologies are used—to build cities, feed populations, and develop life-saving vaccines or to oppress peoples or as tools of war. 

Daniel's book list on understanding current tech war future of humanity

Daniel M. Gerstein Why did Daniel love this book?

Extraordinary book that has tapped into the most important hardware of the AI revolution and will be foundational in the emerging Age of Augmented Humanity. This book provides the detail that allows the reader to understand the history and current state of global semiconductor design and the manufacturing community.

It also lays out in exquisite detail the importance of the technology in the future and how it needs to be protected. In no small measure, the book was instrumental in highlighting the importance of semiconductors in todays’ digital world. 

By Chris Miller,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked Chip War as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

***Winner of the Financial Times Business Book of the Year award***

'Pulse quickening. A nonfiction thriller - equal parts The China Syndrome and Mission Impossible' New York Times

An epic account of the decades-long battle to control the world's most critical resource-microchip technology

Power in the modern world - military, economic, geopolitical - is built on a foundation of computer chips. America has maintained its lead as a superpower because it has dominated advances in computer chips and all the technology that chips have enabled. (Virtually everything runs on chips: cars, phones, the stock market, even the electric grid.) Now…


Book cover of Greek and Roman Political Ideas: A Pelican Introduction

Robert Ledger and Peter Finn Author Of The Official Record: Oversight, National Security and Democracy

From my list on democracy and secrecy.

Why am I passionate about this?

I (Robert) am primarily interested in modern British history. During my postgraduate studies, I worked mainly with government papers that had just been declassified. Like many historians, I enjoy unraveling the mystery that archival research offers and shedding light on forgotten or unheard stories. Meanwhile, Peter, my co-author, is passionate about the intersection between national security and human rights. He developed this interest during his PhD research, which examined the institutionalization of torture during the Iraq War. This research relied heavily on documents released via freedom of information requests and leaks, both of which are relevant to our book on the Official Record. 

Robert's book list on democracy and secrecy

Robert Ledger and Peter Finn Why did Robert love this book?

This excellent book is especially useful to those intrigued about the political ideas that currently dominate self-styled liberal western democracies such as the US, the UK, and Canada. Rather than lionize classical Greek or Roman history, this book instead provides nuanced narratives that are intelligible to the non-expert.

These narratives can be drawn on to understand the contested nature of the relationship between citizen and state and some of the historical roots of influential ideas such as justice, republicanism, and sovereignty.

By Melissa Lane,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Greek and Roman Political Ideas as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Where do our ideas about politics come from?
What can we learn from the Greeks and Romans?
How should we exercise power?

Melissa Lane teaches politics at Princeton University, and previously taught political thought at the University of Cambridge, where she was a Fellow of King's College. She has received a Guggenheim Fellowship in the field of classics, and the historian Richard Tuck called her book Eco-Republic 'a virtuoso performance by one of our best scholars of ancient philosophy.'


Book cover of Presidents' Secrets: The Use and Abuse of Hidden Power

Robert Ledger and Peter Finn Author Of The Official Record: Oversight, National Security and Democracy

From my list on democracy and secrecy.

Why am I passionate about this?

I (Robert) am primarily interested in modern British history. During my postgraduate studies, I worked mainly with government papers that had just been declassified. Like many historians, I enjoy unraveling the mystery that archival research offers and shedding light on forgotten or unheard stories. Meanwhile, Peter, my co-author, is passionate about the intersection between national security and human rights. He developed this interest during his PhD research, which examined the institutionalization of torture during the Iraq War. This research relied heavily on documents released via freedom of information requests and leaks, both of which are relevant to our book on the Official Record. 

Robert's book list on democracy and secrecy

Robert Ledger and Peter Finn Why did Robert love this book?

Written by Mary Graham of the Harvard University-affiliated The Transparency Policy Project, this book explores how eight presidents stretching backward from Barack Obama to George Washington have dealt with the tensions inherent in government secrecy within a society that (at least in theory and often only for some) allows citizens to feed into the management of government affairs.

Graham illustrates that secrecy has been utilized as much to hide mistakes as it has been to protect national security, as well as exploring key moments in the history of secrecy in the US, such as the labyrinth inquiries that followed the Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal, and the Nixon administration.

By Mary Graham,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Presidents' Secrets as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

How presidents use secrecy to protect the nation, foster diplomacy, and gain power

Ever since the nation's most important secret meeting-the Constitutional Convention-presidents have struggled to balance open, accountable government with necessary secrecy in military affairs and negotiations. For the first one hundred and twenty years, a culture of open government persisted, but new threats and technology have long since shattered the old bargains. Today, presidents neither protect vital information nor provide the open debate Americans expect.

Mary Graham tracks the rise in governmental secrecy that began with surveillance and loyalty programs during Woodrow Wilson's administration, explores how it developed…


Book cover of Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer

Daniel M. Gerstein Author Of Tech Wars: Transforming U.S. Technology Development

From my list on understanding current tech war future of humanity.

Why am I passionate about this?

Everyone uses technology, but few stop to think about where these technologies come from and what this trajectory means to humanity. During my professional career, I have dedicated myself to public service focused on security and defense as a U.S. Army officer, senior government civilian, and in think tanks, industry, and academia. My journey has taken me to over 60 countries where I have witnessed humankind's best and worst. The difference is often in how our technologies are used—to build cities, feed populations, and develop life-saving vaccines or to oppress peoples or as tools of war. 

Daniel's book list on understanding current tech war future of humanity

Daniel M. Gerstein Why did Daniel love this book?

When I first saw the book, I thought, “What an odd title for a book on technology?” But the adage that you can’t tell a book by its cover was 100 percent accurate. The author takes the reader on a remarkable journey to understand how the technologies of the day, ordinary technologies—such as vaccines, pasteurization, drug regulation and testing, antibiotics, and industrial safety--have transformed humanity, societies, and our daily lives.

The author leaves the best for last, as he asserts that the most transformative technology has been access to clean water. The results are measured in greater longevity and quality of life for humanity. Using these everyday technologies, the author provides a clear articulation of why technology is so vital to our future.   

By Steven Johnson,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

“Offers a useful reminder of the role of modern science in fundamentally transforming all of our lives.” —President Barack Obama (on Twitter)

“An important book.” —Steven Pinker, The New York Times Book Review

The surprising and important story of how humans gained what amounts to an extra life, from the bestselling author of How We Got to Now and Where Good Ideas Come From

In 1920, at the end of the last major pandemic, global life expectancy was just over forty years. Today, in many parts of the world, human beings can expect to live more than eighty years. As…


Book cover of The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity

Daniel M. Gerstein Author Of Tech Wars: Transforming U.S. Technology Development

From my list on understanding current tech war future of humanity.

Why am I passionate about this?

Everyone uses technology, but few stop to think about where these technologies come from and what this trajectory means to humanity. During my professional career, I have dedicated myself to public service focused on security and defense as a U.S. Army officer, senior government civilian, and in think tanks, industry, and academia. My journey has taken me to over 60 countries where I have witnessed humankind's best and worst. The difference is often in how our technologies are used—to build cities, feed populations, and develop life-saving vaccines or to oppress peoples or as tools of war. 

Daniel's book list on understanding current tech war future of humanity

Daniel M. Gerstein Why did Daniel love this book?

This book speaks to the opportunities and challenges for the participants in today’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) competition. It highlights the barriers to entry in this tech war—high costs, advanced hardware such as semiconductors and high-performance computing, and perhaps most importantly, access to human capital.

This book provides a roadmap for thinking about the current AI tech competition. It also highlights what is at stake if the United States does not lead in this space. The idea of AI development led by an authoritarian regime or a nation that does not place humanity first could arrive at solutions that are unfriendly and perhaps even hostile to humanity. 

By Amy Webb,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Big Nine as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

We like to think that we are in control of the future of "artificial" intelligence. The reality, though, is that we--the everyday people whose data powers AI--aren't actually in control of anything. When, for example, we speak with Alexa, we contribute that data to a system we can't see and have no input into--one largely free from regulation or oversight. The big nine corporations--Amazon, Google, Facebook, Tencent, Baidu, Alibaba, Microsoft, IBM and Apple--are the new gods of AI and are short-changing our futures to reap immediate financial gain.

In this book, Amy Webb reveals the pervasive, invisible ways in which…


Book cover of The Art of Military Innovation: Lessons from the Israel Defense Forces

Stephen J. Gordon Author Of In the Name of God: A Gidon Aronson Thriller

From my list on thrillers for intriguing characters and backgrounds.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love a story filled with interesting characters and a plot that reels me in. I know how challenging it is to construct a plotline and create breadcrumbs (not too many, so the solution isn’t obvious)–all driven by intriguing characters. I am also a sucker for the “good guys” winning but with no guarantees. The characters must have depth, and I want to learn something new about a situation I am unfamiliar with or how a great story is told.

Stephen's book list on thrillers for intriguing characters and backgrounds

Stephen J. Gordon Why did Stephen love this book?

I admit that I am intrigued by the ingenuity and the training of the Israeli Defense Forces. This is a thriller of a different kind.

I read this book to research and understand how the Israelis evolved their “we have no choice but to be the best” ethic. This is not a book about politics or moral judgments. It is an objective overview of how the army came into being and how, to this day, they discard conventional military thinking in defending their country—whether through battlefield strategy, innovation in defense technology, or intelligence services.

I found the book fascinating, especially the Israelis’ lateral thinking, encouragement, and application of ideas.

By Edward N. Luttwak, Eitan Shamir,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Art of Military Innovation as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A world-leading military strategist and an IDF insider explain the improbable success of the Israeli armed forces.

When the Israel Defense Forces was established in May 1948, it was small, poorly equipped, and already at war. Lacking sufficient weaponry or the domestic industrial base to produce it, the newborn military was forced to make do with whatever it could get its hands on. That spirit of improvisation carried the IDF to a decisive victory in the First Arab-Israeli War.

Today the same spirit has made the IDF the most powerful military in the Middle East and among the most capable…


Book cover of Creative Construction: The DNA of Sustained Innovation

Martin Gonzalez Author Of The Bonfire Moment: Bring Your Team Together to Solve the Hardest Problems Startups Face

From my list on solve people problems in your startup.

Why am I passionate about this?

I learned about leadership and building organizations in a volunteer, community-based organization growing up. I ran my first leadership workshop as an 18-year-old for 15-16-year-old kids, and at its peak, led a passionate group of 200+ kids. I then woke up from that dream into a “real job” as a product manager in a company selling products like bath soap and shampoo, and later as a strategy consultant. It was there that I noticed the significant pain people were experiencing in the corporate world, and I realized I could help leaders build organizations where both the business and its people could thrive. 

Martin's book list on solve people problems in your startup

Martin Gonzalez Why did Martin love this book?

Chapter 8! Chapter 8! What a gem on what it really takes to build innovative cultures. Pisano, a Harvard business school professor, articulated ideas that I had observed in my work across Google and with startups around the world—ideas I wish I had authored myself.

The core idea that stood out to me was how people often romanticize innovative cultures as being all about the “bunnies and cotton candy”—like having tolerance for failure or zero hierarchy—while overlooking the harder, more crucial aspects, such as intolerance for incompetence and the discipline required to kill projects that aren’t working.

His insights resonated deeply with my experiences, providing clarity and language for concepts I’ve long recognized but struggled to put into words.

By Gary P. Pisano,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Every company wants to grow, and the most proven way is through innovation. The conventional wisdom is that only disruptive, nimble startups can innovate; once a business gets bigger and more complex corporate arteriosclerosis sets in. Gary Pisano's remarkable research conducted over three decades, and his extraordinary on-the ground experience with big companies and fast-growing ones that have moved beyond the start-up stage, provides new thinking about how the scale of bigger companies can be leveraged for advantage in innovation.

He begins with the simply reality that bigger companies are, well, different. Demanding that they "be like Uber" is no…


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