Episode Transcript
[00:00:12] Speaker A: Every army that's ever fought has had to think its way through the fight before it could win it.
[00:00:16] Speaker B: And the armies that do that best are the armies that read.
But what books should we actually be reading? And more importantly, what should we take away from those books?
[00:00:27] Speaker A: This is the MWI Book Club, a new podcast from the Modern War Institute at West Point, hosted by me, John Amble,
[00:00:33] Speaker B: and me, Theo Lipski.
[00:00:35] Speaker A: Now, there's no shortage of military reading lists out there, but a reading list tells you what to read, it doesn't tell you what to do with it once you've read it.
[00:00:43] Speaker B: What lessons can you take away from these books? And how do they make you, the reader, a better military professional?
[00:00:50] Speaker A: So that's what we're doing with the MWI Book Club. In each episode, we pick one book.
[00:00:54] Speaker B: It could be military history, it could be a novel, it could be a wartime memoir.
[00:00:59] Speaker A: And we read it and pull out its lessons to share with you, the listeners. Lessons on war and war fighting, on leadership and strategy, on service and the profession of arms.
[00:01:08] Speaker B: And if you're not convinced that reading makes better warfighters, take it from one of America's greatest soldiers, George S. Patton. I've read the memoirs of our enemies, generals and political leaders, Patton once wrote. I've even read his philosophers. I've studied and detailed the accounts of every damned one of his battles. Therefore, when the day comes, I'm going to whip the hell out of him.
[00:01:29] Speaker A: That is the essence of the NWI Book Club. The idea that a reading army is a better prepared, better equipped, and more lethal fighting force.
[00:01:38] Speaker B: The MWI Book Club launches with the first of its monthly episodes on July 1st. We've got some great books lined up, starting with Herman Woakes, the Cane Mutiny. Subscribe now wherever you're hearing this so you don't miss it.
