The Face Of Battle - John Keegan

Keegan is a renowned military history author and in The Face of Battle he does not dissappoint. As we see in today's media everyone questions the moves of politician and military leaders after the action. Keegan goes back to battles such as Agincourt and Waterloo and describes what the men felt like - where had they marched form in the last days? the last weeks? What food supplies did they have? What kind of weather was it and were they prepared for it? These basics, which we all seem to forget, really make this book very original, interesting and much more relevant. Overall this book fits in marvellously with the rest of Keegan's ...  Read the complete review

THE FACE OF BATTLE explores what it was really like to be in battle at various eras in history. John Keegan, a senior instructor at Sandhurst, uses somewhat the same organization as in his MASK OF COMMAND, but where that dealt with generals, leadership, and strategy, this book goes right into the front lines with fighting soldiers from the Middle Ages to World War One. This book looks at war from a different perspective - through the eye of the soldier - with little detail on the greater tactical picture. The advantage of this is that bias is taken away, since the book has no concern with who was the victor or who fought best in the circumstances. ...  Read the complete review