WASHINGTON, D.C. – Clausewitz’s On War and Sun Tzu’s The Art of War are among the hundreds of books that the Department of Defense has banned from its schools. According to a White House spokesperson, the books “have no place in American education.”
Those were among the 596 books that the Defense Department ordered pulled from the shelves of its classrooms and libraries around the world as part of the growing Pentagon book ban.
New Titles Added to Pentagon Book Ban List
When asked why such well-known war textbooks, long staples of instruction at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, were being removed, the White House spokesperson said that the authors weren’t American: “Our children won’t grow up making America great again if they’re depending on experts from other countries to instruct them.”
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The American Civil Liberties Union had filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the book ban, and the federal judge in the case ordered the DoD to release its list of banned books as part of the ongoing legal proceedings.
Eagle-eyed reviewers of the list noticed that it also included John Keegan’s The Face of Battle, a nonfiction book widely considered by military historians as one of the best ever written on the subject.
The reason given by the White House for this book’s being banned was that the author was English, not American. The answer to the follow-up question was “Not close enough.”
As to the inclusion of a large number of LBGQT+-themed books on the list, the spokesperson had no comment.
Critics Challenge Scope of Pentagon Book Ban
Observers quickly pointed out that the Pentagon book ban also swept up several titles only loosely connected to military life, including a cookbook on portable meals and a children’s story about a duck learning to march in formation.
When asked how these fit national security criteria, officials replied that “ducks are unpredictable” and declined further clarification. Critics argue the Pentagon book ban has taken on a life of its own, expanding faster than anyone in the administration seems willing to acknowledge.
One military librarian said the policy now changes so often that staff members “check the banned list more than the weather,” noting that even a handbook on PowerPoint etiquette was briefly removed before someone insisted it posed no threat — except to morale.
