Books by John Keegan
“John Keegan’s The Face of Battle is arguably the most influential work of military history written in the last fifty years. Before Keegan it was always about the great people, generally men of military history…You learn about the great strategist who might have won or lost the battle, but not what life was like on the front line for the ordinary person doing the fighting. That’s what Keegan brings to it. He does it by examining three of the most important battles (from a British perspective) you would want to know about: Agincourt in 1415, Waterloo in 1815, and then the Somme in 1916… Keegan gives you the background and the context, but he captures them from the ordinary person’s perspective. What I loved about it when I read it in my early twenties was the fact that it was just so accessible. I thought, ‘He’s writing this for me. This is the way I would like to read history.’ I’ve got dozens of books on my shelf that are very important but they’re very dry—whereas he’s bringing it to life.” Read more...
Iain MacGregor, Military Historians & Veteran
Interviews where books by John Keegan were recommended
The best books on Battles, recommended by Iain MacGregor
The weapons and tactics of war may change, but the human experience of battle does not, argues Iain MacGregor, author of Battle: The Moments that Transformed Warfare from Ancient Greece to Ukraine. He highlights five books that bring that experience to life, from the ordinary soldier at Agincourt to the brutal realities of the Pacific War and the Falklands.
