Today, the Marine Corps celebrates its 250th birthday. If you are on social media, no doubt you are aware, as Marines tend to go into hyperdrive each November, flooding the internet with memes and boasts about an outfit born in a Philadelphia bar (true) that became the nation’s force in readiness, accumulating an unmatched military record. There is much to be proud of, and the Corps enjoys a hard-earned reputation as a premier fighting force.
There are countless books about the Marine Corps, most profiling Marines, battles, and campaigns across its history. I have a number of them on my shelf that catalog what Marines have done through the voices of individual Marines, units, and engagements. Other books cover the broader historical arc of the Corps’ journey, such as Allan Millett’s Semper Fidelis: The History of the U.S. Marine Corps (1980), a classic that spans the Corps’ full history; Col Merrill Bartlett’s Assault from the Sea, a collection of essays on amphibious operations from M…
