A comprehensive list of over 80 books about and by the Navy SEALs

The below is a quasi-comprehensive list of books about and by Navy SEALs, from the World War II-era UDT “Frogmen,” through the Vietnam-era SEALs, and up to the present-day frontline warriors of the Global War on Terrorism. It has been a bit of a labor of love for this author, as the 1990s-era Navy SEAL books, especially, helped prepare me as I contemplated making a go myself at BUD/S training. That is where I started in making this list. From there, it just blossomed.

Some of these are memoirs, some are historical studies, some are self-help books, some are biographies, and all revolve around the SEAL community, or the SEAL “way of life,” as it is described by some of the below authors.

I purposefully left out the SEAL “workout books,” simply as a means of limiting myself, although there are a number of those out there as well for your reading pleasure. Perhaps a future list will cover those. I also tried to leave out pure fiction books, although some might have snuck onto this list. Most of the 17 or so books in the “Rogue Warrior” series, for example, are fiction — or pseudo-fiction, anyway — starring Dick Marcinko himself. I left those out.

Absent as well are all of the SEAL/romance fiction books. Wow. There are a lot of those. Who knew? You can dig those up yourselves.

It is important to note that not all of the authors of the below books are SEALs or former SEALs, though most are. Some books, furthermore, were written by a Navy SEAL along with a civilian co-author.

Finally, I also occasionally left out the extended subtitles of the books, if they were over-long or superfluous to understanding the book’s subject matter. Again, apologies if any of you future readers of these books have any trouble trying to locate them based on what I have documented below. I am sure we can help you dig them up somewhere.

With all that said, enjoy your reading! The books are listed below in chronological order.

The Element of Surprise: Navy SEALs in Vietnam — Darryl Young, 1990
SEALs: UDT/SEAL Operations in Vietnam — T.L. Bosiljevac, 1990
Brave Men, Dark Waters: The Untold Story of the Navy SEALs — Orr Kelly, 1992
SEAL! — Lt. Cmdr. Michael J. Walsh and Greg Walker, 1994
SEALs, UDT, Frogmen: Men Under Pressure — Darryl Young, 1994
Death in the Jungle: Diary of a Navy SEAL — Gary R. Smith and Alan Maki, 1994
The Naked Warriors: The Story of the U.S. Navy Frogmen — Francis Douglas Fane and Don Moore, 1995
Never Fight Fair! Navy SEALs’ Stories of Combat and Adventure — Orr Kelly, 1995
Point Man — James “Patches” Watson & Kevin Dockery, 1995
Hunters & Shooters: An Oral History of the U.S. Navy SEALs in Vietnam — Edited by Bill Fawcett, 1995
SpecOps: Case Studies in Special Operations Warfare: Theory and Practice — William H. McRaven, 1996
Walking Point: The Experience of a Founding Member of the Elite Navy SEALs — James Watson, 1997
SEALs in Vietnam — Eric Micheletti, 1997
Rogue Warrior — Richard “Dick” Marcinko and John Weisman, 1997
Combat Swimmer: Memoirs of a Navy SEAL — Capt. Robert A. Gormly, 1998
Class-29: The Making of US Navy SEALs — John Carl Roat, 1998
Whattaya Mean I Can’t Kill ‘Em?: A Navy SEAL in Vietnam — Rad Miller, Jr, 1998
Rogue Warrior: The Real Team — Richard Marcinko, 1999
The Warrior Elite: The Forging of SEAL Class 228 — Dick Couch, 2001
Navy SEALs: A History of the Early Years — Kevin Dockery and Bud Brutsman, 2001
Navy SEALs: A History part II, The Vietnam Years — Kevin Dockery and Bud Brutsman, 2002
One Perfect Op: an Insider’s Account of the Navy Seal Special Warfare Teams— Dennis “Snake” Chalker & Kevin Dockery, 2002
Navy SEALs: A History part III, Post-Vietnam to the present — Kevin Dockery and Bud Brutsman, 2003
First SEAL — Roy Boehm & Charles Sasser, 2003
Warrior Soul: The Memoir of a Navy SEAL — Chuck Pfarrer, 2003
Navy SEALs: A Complete History from World War II to the Present — Kevin Dockery, 2004
The Finishing School — Dick Couch, 2004
The Frogmen of World War II: An Oral History of the U.S. Navy’s Underwater Demolition Teams— Chet Cunningham, 2005
Down Range: Navy SEALs in the War on Terrorism — Dick Couch, 2005
Lone Survivor — Marcus Luttrell and Patrick Robinson, 2007
The Sheriff of Ramadi: Navy SEALs and the Winning of al-Anbar — Dick Couch, 2008
SEAL Warrior: Death in the Dark: Vietnam 1968-1972 — Thomas H. Keith and J. Terry Riebling, 2009
SEAL Team SIX: Memoirs of an Elite Navy Sniper — Howard Wasdin and Stephen Templin, 2011
Unleash the Warrior Within — Richard “Mack” Machowicz, 2011
The Heart and the Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL — Eric Greitens, 2011
SEAL of Honor: Operation Red Wings and the Life of Michael P. Murphy, USN — Gary Williams, 2011
Inside SEAL Team Six: My Life and Missions with America’s Elite Warriors — Don Mann and Ralph Pezzullo, 2011
SEAL Target Geronimo: Inside The Mission to Kill Osama Bin Laden — Chuck Pfarrer, 2011
The Red Circle— Brandon Webb, 2012
SEAL of God — Chad Williams with David Thomas, 2012
Service: A Navy SEAL at War — Marcus Luttrell, 2012
No Easy Day — Mark Owen, 2012
The Warrior’s Heart: Becoming a Man of Compassion and Courage — Eric Greitens, 2012
American Sniper — Chris Kyle, Scott McEwen, and Jim DeFelice, 2012
Fearless: The Undaunted Courage and Ultimate Sacrifice of Navy SEAL Team SIX Operator Adam Brown- Eric Blehm, 2012
SEAL Survival Guide — Cade Courtley, 2012
Battle Ready: Memoir of a SEAL Warrior Medic — Mark L. Donald and Scott Mactavish, 2013
Warrior Princess: A U.S. Navy SEAL’s Journey to Coming Out as Transgender — Kristen Beck and Anne Speckhard, 2013
Damn Few: Making the Modern SEAL Warrior — Rorke Denver, 2013
Navy SEAL Dogs: My Tail of Training Canines for Combat — Mike Ritland, 2013
The Way of the SEAL: Think Like an Elite Warrior to Lead and Succeed — Allyson Edelhertz Machate and Mark Divine
Trident K9 Warriors — Mike Ritland, 2013
The Trident — Jason Redman and John Bruning, 2013
How to Shoot Like a Navy SEAL: Combat Marksmanship — Chris Sajnog, 2013
Navy SEAL Sniper: An Intimate Look at the Sniper of the 21st Century — Glen Doherty and Brandon Webb, 2013
Breaking BUD/S: How Regular Guys Can Become Navy SEALs — D.H. Xavier, 2013
Unbeatable Mind: Forge Resiliency and Mental Toughness to Succeed at an Elite Level— Mark Divine, 2014
Navy SEALs: Their Untold Story — Dick Couch and William Doyle, 2014
Pride: The Story of the First Openly Gay Navy SEAL — Brett Jones, 2014
No Hero: The Evolution of a Navy SEAL — Mark Owen and Kevin Maurer, 2014
Self-Discipline: The Ultimate Guide to Self-Discipline — John Collins, 2015
Motivation: The Ultimate Pathway to Motivation and Success like a US Navy SEAL — John Collins, 2015
The Making of a Navy SEAL: My Story of Surviving the Toughest Challenge and Training the Best — Brandon Tyler Webb and John David Mann, 2015
Extreme Ownership — Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, 2015
Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life — Eric Greitens, 2015
Among Heroes: A U.S. Navy SEAL’s True Story of Friendship, Heroism, and the Ultimate Sacrifice — Brandon Webb, 2015
100 Deadly Skills — Clint Emerson, 2015
Team Dog: How to Train Your Dog the Navy SEAL Way — Mike Ritland, 2015
Enemies, Foreign and Domestic: A SEAL’s Story — Carl Higbie, 2016
The Last Punisher — Kevin Lacz, 2016
Worth Dying For: A Navy SEAL’s Call to a Nation — Rorke Denver and Ellis Henican, 2016
By Honor Bound: Two Navy SEALs, the Medal of Honor, and an Extraordinary Story of Courage — Dick Couch, 2016
American Commander — Ryan Zinke and Scott McEwen, 2016
Raising Men — Eric Davis, 2016
Navy SEAL Self-Discipline: How to Become the Toughest Warrior — Jason Lopez, 2016
Success — John Collins, 2016
The Power of Thought — Brandon Webb, 2016
Navy SEAL Mental Toughness: A Guide to Developing an Unbeatable Mind — Chris Lambertsen, 2016
The Operator — Robert O’Neill, 2017
Total Focus — Brandon Webb and John D. Mann, 2017
Make Your Bed — Admiral William H. McRaven, 2017