Skip to Main Content (Press Enter)
The Face of Battle by John Keegan
Add The Face of Battle to bookshelf
Add to Bookshelf

Look Inside

The Face of Battle

A Study of Agincourt, Waterloo, and the Somme

A Study of Agincourt, Waterloo, and the Somme

By John Keegan

By John Keegan

By John Keegan

By John Keegan

Best Seller
Paperback $18.00

Jan 27, 1983 | ISBN 9780140048971

Ebook $12.99

Jan 27, 1983 | ISBN 9781440673993

All Formats
+
    The Face of Battle by John Keegan
    Paperback $18.00
    Jan 27, 1983 | ISBN 9780140048971

    Buy from Other Retailers:

    See All Formats (1) +
    • $18.00

      Jan 27, 1983 | ISBN 9780140048971

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Jan 27, 1983 | ISBN 9781440673993

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Buy the Ebook:

    About The Face of Battle


    John Keegan’s groundbreaking portrayal of the common soldier in the heat of battle — a masterpiece that explores the physical and mental aspects of warfare

    The Face of Battle     is military history from the battlefield: a look at the direct experience of individuals at the “point of maximum danger.” Without the myth-making elements of rhetoric and xenophobia, and breaking away from the stylized format of battle descriptions, John Keegan has written what is probably the definitive model for military historians. And in his scrupulous reassessment of three battles representative of three different time periods, he manages to convey what the experience of combat meant for the participants, whether they were facing the arrow cloud at the battle of Agincourt, the musket balls at Waterloo, or the steel rain of the Somme.

    The Face of Battle is a companion volume to John Keegan’s classic study of the individual soldier, The Mask of Command: together they form a masterpiece of military and human history.

    About The Face of Battle


    John Keegan’s groundbreaking portrayal of the common soldier in the heat of battle — a masterpiece that explores the physical and mental aspects of warfare

    The Face of Battle     is military history from the battlefield: a look at the direct experience of individuals at the “point of maximum danger.” Without the myth-making elements of rhetoric and xenophobia, and breaking away from the stylized format of battle descriptions, John Keegan has written what is probably the definitive model for military historians. And in his scrupulous reassessment of three battles representative of three different time periods, he manages to convey what the experience of combat meant for the participants, whether they were facing the arrow cloud at the battle of Agincourt, the musket balls at Waterloo, or the steel rain of the Somme.

    The Face of Battle is a companion volume to John Keegan’s classic study of the individual soldier, The Mask of Command: together they form a masterpiece of military and human history.

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    Also by John Keegan

    How War Begins
    The American Civil War
    Winston Churchill
    The Iraq War
    The Second World War
    See all books by John Keegan

    Also by John Keegan

    How War Begins
    The American Civil War
    Winston Churchill
    The Iraq War
    The Second World War
    See all books by John Keegan

    About John Keegan

    John Keegan’s books include The Iraq War, Intelligence in War, The First World War, The Battle for History, The Face of Battle, War and Our World, The Masks of Command, Fields of Battle, and A History of Warfare. He was the defense editor of The… More about John Keegan

    About John Keegan

    John Keegan’s books include The Iraq War, Intelligence in War, The First World War, The Battle for History, The Face of Battle, War and Our World, The Masks of Command, Fields of Battle, and A History of Warfare. He was the defense editor of The… More about John Keegan

    Product Details

    Category: Military History | European World History | Science & Technology

    Paperback | $18.00
    Published by Penguin Books
    Jan 27, 1983 | 384 Pages | 5-1/16 x 7-3/4 | ISBN 9780140048971

    Category: Military History | European World History | Science & Technology

    Ebook | $12.99
    Published by Penguin Books
    Jan 27, 1983 | 368 Pages | ISBN 9781440673993

    YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

    Praise

    “…still widely regarded as his best despite more than 20 other works.” – The Guardian 

    “The most brilliant evocation of military experience in our time” —C.P. Snow

    “In this book, which is so creative, so original, one learns as much about the nature of man as of battle.” —J.H. Plumb, The New York Times Book Review

    “This without any doubt is one of the half-dozen best books on warfare to appear in the English language since the end of the Second World War.” —Michael Howard, The Sunday Times (London)

    “A totally original and brilliant book” —The New York Review of Books

    “The book which changed how military history is written. Keegan set out to discover what it must have been like to be present at Agincourt, Waterloo and the Somme – and he succeeded brilliantly.”– Bernard Cornwell (Chosen as number one of his six best books) ― Daily Express (London)

    Table Of Contents

    Acknowledgments

    Chapter I: Old, Unhappy, Far-off Things

    A Little Learning
    The Usefulness of Military History
    The Deficiencies of Military History
    The “Battle Piece”
    “Killing No Murder?”
    The History of Military History
    The Narrative Tradition
    Verdict or Truth?

    Chapter 2: Agincourt, 25 October 1415

    The Campaign
    The Battle
    Archers versus Infantry and Cavalry
    Cavalry versus Infantry
    Infantry versus Infantry
    The Killing of the Prisoners
    The Wounded
    The Will to Combat

    Chapter 3: Waterloo, 18 June 1815

    The Campaign
    The Personal Angle of Vision
    The Physical Circumstances of Battle
    Categories of Combat
    Single Combat
    Cavalry versus Cavalry
    Cavalry versus Artillery
    Cavalry versus Infantry
    Artillery versus Infantry
    Infantry versus Infantry
    Disintegration
    The Wounded

    Chapter 4: The Somme, 1 July 1916

    The Battlefield
    The Plan
    The Preparations
    The Army
    The Tactics
    The Bombardment
    The Final Preliminaries
    The Battle
    Infantry versus Machine-Gunners
    Infantry versus Infantry
    The View from across No-Man’s-Land
    The Wounded
    The Will to Combat
    Commemoration

    Chapter 5: The Future of Battle

    The Moving Battlefield
    The Nature of Battle
    The Trend of Battle
    The Inhuman Face of War
    The Abolition of Battle

    Bibliography

    Index

    Looking for More Great Reads?
    21 Books You’ve Been Meaning to Read
    Back to Top

    Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network

    Raise kids who love to read

    Brightly

    Raise kids who love to read

    Today's Top Books

    Today's Top Books

    Want to know what people are actually reading right now?

         An online magazine for today’s home cook

    TASTE

    An online magazine for today’s home cook