War Historian Keegan Chronicled Individual Toll of Battle

[Valin]

AP/Washington Post:

8/4/12

 

John Keegan, a British military historian whose groundbreaking book "The Face of Battle" cast a fresh look at warfare, capturing the fears, anxiety and heroism of the front-line soldier, died Aug. 2 at his home in Kilmington, England. He was 78.

 

(Snip)

 

Mr. Keegan was a writer of exceptional grace whose more than 20 books spanned the history of warfare from Alexander the Great to the 21st-century U.S. incursion in Iraq. In the New York Times Book Review in 2009, Civil War historian James M. McPherson called him "our generation's foremost military historian."

 

The work that established Mr. Keegan's reputation was "The Face of Battle" (1976), which examined warfare from the perspective of soldiers taking part in three historical European battles: Agincourt in 1415; Waterloo in 1815; and the 1916 Battle of the Somme, during World War I.

 

(Snip)

 

 

The Telegraph: Sir John Keegan

 

H/T @ nickydog for making me aware of his all too untimely death.

[nickydog]

Thank you for looking up those two posts, @Valin. Fascinating! Especially the second one. I'm going to have to add John Keegan to my list of authors I want to read.