LEARN / READING ROOM

Books that open different windows.

No single author speaks for every remote warrior. Explore personal accounts, history, ethics and scholarship—without confusing experience with prevalence, or argument with consensus.

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From Remote Warrior's founder

One perspective among many. This book is presented separately from the independent reading list so visitors can distinguish founder-authored work from outside references.

Cover of The Reaper's Shadow by Tanner Yackley

FOUNDER-AUTHORED BOOK · FIRSTHAND PERSPECTIVE

The Reaper's Shadow

How Remote Warfare Systems Follow Operators Home

By Tanner Yackley

An account of the people and working systems behind remote operations: long-duration attention, rapid work-to-home transitions, compartmentalization, responsibility, and how occupational adaptations may continue after service.

Read with context: This is a firsthand, practitioner-grounded perspective—not a clinical guideline or a universal account of remote warfare.

Browse the starting shelf

An annotated selection, not an endorsement of every claim. Covers are requested from Open Library; editions may vary, and unavailable images show a fallback.

Book cover: On Killing Remotely
Operational / practitioner synthesis

On Killing Remotely

Wayne Phelps

Explores the psychology and lived experiences of remotely engaged personnel. Interviews and interpretation do not establish a universal clinical profile.

Read with context: Practitioner synthesis, not a clinical guideline.

BEST FOR · Veterans, partners, providers
Book cover: Reaper Force
RAF firsthand interviews

Reaper Force

Peter Lee

Accounts from British Reaper personnel and their partners offer a valuable perspective outside the United States.

Read with context: Qualitative perspectives, not prevalence estimates.

BEST FOR · Families, operators, students
Book cover: Hunter Killer
Firsthand operational memoir

Hunter Killer

T. Mark McCurley with Kevin Maurer

A pilot's account of remote aircraft operations, mission work and the early armed-drone enterprise.

Read with context: One participant's perspective.

BEST FOR · Curious public, operators
Book cover: Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution
Reported history

Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution

Richard Whittle

Traces the people, engineering and institutions that brought Predator from concept to operational reality.

Read with context: Historical journalism, not a contemporary operational manual.

BEST FOR · Readers new to UAS, educators
Book cover: Never Mind, We'll Do It Ourselves
Insider program history

Never Mind, We'll Do It Ourselves

Alec Bierbauer, Mark Cooter & Michael Marks

An inside account of early Predator operations and the organizational choices surrounding them.

Read with context: Pair with independent sources for balance.

BEST FOR · Military history and leadership
Book cover: Is Remote Warfare Moral?
Ethical analysis

Is Remote Warfare Moral?

Joseph O. Chapa

A sustained argument examining moral responsibility and decision-making in remote warfare.

Read with context: Normative analysis, not ethical consensus.

BEST FOR · Readers asking about responsibility
Book cover: Rethinking Remote Warfare
Academic perspectives

Rethinking Remote Warfare

Edited by James Patton Rogers & James Wesley Hutto

A collection of scholarly contributions examining remote warfare, new technology and international security.

Read with context: Contributions have distinct methods and viewpoints.

BEST FOR · Researchers and educators
Book cover: What It Is Like to Go to War
Comparative combat memoir

What It Is Like to Go to War

Karl Marlantes

Reflects on conventional combat and return to ordinary life; useful for comparison with, not substitution for, remote warfare.

Read with context: Not about the RPA experience specifically.

BEST FOR · Veterans, families, clinicians
Book cover: On Killing
Influential / contested

On Killing

Dave Grossman

A historically influential account of killing and training, including arguments that remain contested in the literature.

Read with context: Do not treat disputed claims as settled scientific evidence.

BEST FOR · Critical readers and researchers

How we select books

We identify the author's role, source type, publication period and perspective; distinguish firsthand testimony from research; disclose material limitations; and include more than one viewpoint. Books do not replace clinical care, official guidance or independent evidence review.

Cover images: Open Library Covers API. Book cover rights remain with their respective rights holders. These small images accompany commentary and identification, not unrelated promotion.