The Face of Battle
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The Face of Battle
John Keegan
War
James Mustich
Aug 22, 2018
“What is it like to be in a battle?” When this book was first published in 1976, it amazed readers by answering that question in a revelatory way. Traditional “battle pieces,” for example, with their stylized imagery and highly selective, discontinuous treatment of the fighting, described battles as if from above the fray, treating soldiers as mere pawns; similarly, the “decisive battle” school of military history was less interested in the personal ordeal of combat than in the big-picture mechanics and implications of victory or defeat. Keegan, by contrast, set out to look at three famous battles—Agincourt (1415), Waterloo (1815), and the Somme (1916)—through the eyes of the ordinary soldiers who fought in them. Combining sensitive reading of anecdotal and official histories with research into contemporary weaponry and analyses of strategic decisions, Keegan creates a vibrant and thoughtful portrait of men at war. Readers unfamiliar with but curious about the literature of war would be smart to take Keegan’s masterpiece as their entrée to this compelling genre.
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David Watterson
Jul 31, 2020
Tells the truth about fighting, the fear, the pain, and death.
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David Watterson
Jul 31, 2020
Tells the truth; the fear, the pain, the dying.
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