John Keegan – författare

** THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION **'The book which changed how military history was written' BERNARD CORNWELL‘Keegan shows us the true nature of war – it was never a chess game calmly between two masters, it was always bloody chaos’ ANTONY BEEVORThis is military history at its best – from the battlefield. Powerful and gripping, The Face of Battle is an imperishable account of the direct experience of individuals at the point of maximum danger.It examines the physical conditions of fighting, the particular emotions and behaviour generated by battle, as well as the motives that impel soldiers to stand and fight rather than run away.In this stunningly vivid reassessment of three key battles, leading military historian John Keegan conveys their reality for the participants, whether facing the arrow cloud of Agincourt, the levelled muskets of Waterloo or the steel rain of the Somme.'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' 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' SUNDAY TIMES

** THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION **'The book which changed how military history was written' BERNARD CORNWELL‘Keegan shows us the true nature of war – it was never a chess game calmly between two masters, it was always bloody chaos’ ANTONY BEEVORThis is military history at its best – from the battlefield. Powerful and gripping, The Face of Battle is an imperishable account of the direct experience of individuals at the point of maximum danger.It examines the physical conditions of fighting, the particular emotions and behaviour generated by battle, as well as the motives that impel soldiers to stand and fight rather than run away.In this stunningly vivid reassessment of three key battles, leading military historian John Keegan conveys their reality for the participants, whether facing the arrow cloud of Agincourt, the levelled muskets of Waterloo or the steel rain of the Somme.'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' 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' SUNDAY TIMES

The Mask of Command is about generals: who they are, what they do and how they affect the world we live in. Through portraits of four generals - archetypal hero Alexander the Great, anti-hero Wellington, the unheroic Ulysses S. Grant and the false heroic of Hitler - John Keegan propounds the view of heroism in warfare as inextricable linked with the political imperative of the age and place. He demonstrates how the role of the general alters with the ethos of the society that creates him and concludes that there is no place for heroism in a nuclear world. The Mask of Command is a companion volume to John Keegan's classic study of the individual soldier, The Face of Battle: together they form a masterpiece of military and human history.

From the earliest times, commanders have sought knowledge of the enemy, his strengths and weaknesses, his dispositions and intentions. But how much effect, in the 'real time' of a battle or a campaign, can this knowledge have? In this magisterial new study, the author of A History of Warfare goes to the heart of a series of important conflicts to develop a powerful argument about intelligence in war. Keegan's narrative sweep is enthralling, whether portraying the dilemmas of Nelson seeking Napoleon's fleet, Stonewall Jackson in the American Civil War, Bletchley as it seeks to crack Ultra during the Battle of the Atlantic, the realities of the secret war in the Falklands or the numerous intelligence issues in the contemporary fight against terrorism.

The definitive history of warfare told by Britain's foremost military historian.John Keegan’s masterpiece is a work of breath-taking scope that not only chronicles the history of warfare, but unearths lessons on the nature of humanity. Stretching across centuries and continents, from the Empire of Babylon to the Somme, A History of Warfare studies civilisations, psychology, archaeology, genetics, history and strategy with an expert’s eye. John Keegan’s unmissable and epic journey through military history has been widely acclaimed and remains vital reading today.

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

John Keegan, widely considered the greatest military historian of our time and the author of acclaimed volumes on ancient and modern warfare--including, most recently, The First World War, a national bestseller--distills what he knows about the why’s and how’s of armed conflict into a series of brilliantly concise essays.Is war a natural condition of humankind? What are the origins of war? Is the modern state dependent on warfare? How does war affect the individual, combatant or noncombatant? Can there be an end to war? Keegan addresses these questions with a breathtaking knowledge of history and the many other disciplines that have attempted to explain the phenomenon. The themes Keegan concentrates on in this short volume are essential to our understanding of why war remains the single greatest affliction of humanity in the twenty-first century, surpassing famine and disease, its traditional companions.From the Trade Paperback edition.

First Published in 2004. World War II, unlike World War I, was truly a global conflict, fought in every one of the five continents, from the Caribbean to the South China Sea, from New Guinea to the North Cape, and by combatants from every continental region, Latin America, the Balkans, Scandinavia, the Middle East, South Asia and Africa as well as from Europe and North America. It was also, as World War I had not been, a conflict of ideologies. Its dramatis personae was therefore of a peculiar richness, including not only soldiers and statesmen of orthodox background but three dictators of world stature—Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin, demagogues like Goebbels and ideologues like Alfred Rosenberg, politicians of charismatic power, like Franklin Delano Roosevelt, prophets of national renaissance, like Charles de Gaulle, and of national liberation like Mahatma Gandhi, showmen, mountebanks, martyrs, heroes, traitors and quislings—a word we owe to the politics of World War II. This book attempts to assemble the most important among this vast cast of characters, from every country and from every sphere of responsibility— or irresponsibility—and to convey not only the salient facts about the life and career of each but also the flavor of their individuality.

The Routledge Who's Who in Military History looks at those men and women who have shaped the course of war. It concentrates on all those periods about which the reader is likely to want information - the eighteenth-century wars in Europe, the American Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars and the major conflicts of the nineteenth-century. There is full coverage of the First and Second World Wars, and the many post-war struggles up to and including the Gulf War. It provides:* detailed biographies of the most interesting and important figures in military history from about 1450 to the present day* a series of maps showing the main theatres of war* a glossary of common words and phrases* an accessible and user-friendly A-Z layoutThe Routledge Who's Who in Military History will be a unique and invaluable source of information for the student and general reader alike.

The American Civil War was one of the longest and bloodiest of modern wars. It is also one of the most mysterious. It has captured the imagination of writers, artists and film-makers for decades but the reality of it confuses and divides historians even today. In this magisterial history of the first modern war, the distinguished military historian John Keegan unpicks the geography, leadership and strategic logic of the war and takes us to the heart of the conflict. His captivating work promises to be the definitive history of the American Civil War.

Acclaimed military historian John Keegan’s anthology of war writing from 25 centuries of battle In The Book of War, John Keegan marshals a formidable host of war writings to chronicle the evolution of Western warfare through the voice of the most eloquent participants—from Thucydides’ classic account of ancient Greek phalanx warfare to a blow-by-blow description of ground fighting against the Iraqi troops in Kuwait during the Gulf War. Keegan gathers more than eighty selections, including Caesar’s Commentaries on the Roman invasion of Britain; the French Knight Jehan de Wavrin at the battle of Agincourt; Davy Crockett in the war against the Creek; Wellington’s dispatch on Waterloo; Hemingway after Caporetto; and Ernie Pyle at Normandy.“The best military historian of our generation.” –Tom Clancy “A monumental piece of literary military history.” –Chicago TribuneA brilliantly edited and comprehensive anthology."—The New York Times Book Review.

From the dean of modern military historians, John Keegan: a key selection from his masterpiece, The First World War. The road to World War I, from the death of the archduke to the first salvos of battle, an incredibly thorough and straightforward account of how a supposedly rational liberal Europe became engulfed by war.Everyone remembers the powder keg, the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife by Serbian national Gavrilo Princip; but what about the fact that a full month elapsed between Princip’s deed and the actual beginning of war? Or that the German Kaiser spent much of that time on his imperial yacht Hohenzollern, on his annual cruise in the Norwegian fjords? John Keegan explains in careful and fascinating detail how exactly the war began, taking the reader through this fateful and exciting month of diplomatic back and forth, last-minute near-saves, and ultimate failure. An eBook short.

First Published in 2004. World War II, unlike World War I, was truly a global conflict, fought in every one of the five continents, from the Caribbean to the South China Sea, from New Guinea to the North Cape, and by combatants from every continental region, Latin America, the Balkans, Scandinavia, the Middle East, South Asia and Africa as well as from Europe and North America. It was also, as World War I had not been, a conflict of ideologies. Its dramatis personae was therefore of a peculiar richness, including not only soldiers and statesmen of orthodox background but three dictators of world stature—Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin, demagogues like Goebbels and ideologues like Alfred Rosenberg, politicians of charismatic power, like Franklin Delano Roosevelt, prophets of national renaissance, like Charles de Gaulle, and of national liberation like Mahatma Gandhi, showmen, mountebanks, martyrs, heroes, traitors and quislings—a word we owe to the politics of World War II. This book attempts to assemble the most important among this vast cast of characters, from every country and from every sphere of responsibility— or irresponsibility—and to convey not only the salient facts about the life and career of each but also the flavor of their individuality.

First Published in 2004. World War II, unlike World War I, was truly a global conflict, fought in every one of the five continents, from the Caribbean to the South China Sea, from New Guinea to the North Cape, and by combatants from every continental region, Latin America, the Balkans, Scandinavia, the Middle East, South Asia and Africa as well as from Europe and North America. It was also, as World War I had not been, a conflict of ideologies. Its dramatis personae was therefore of a peculiar richness, including not only soldiers and statesmen of orthodox background but three dictators of world stature—Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin, demagogues like Goebbels and ideologues like Alfred Rosenberg, politicians of charismatic power, like Franklin Delano Roosevelt, prophets of national renaissance, like Charles de Gaulle, and of national liberation like Mahatma Gandhi, showmen, mountebanks, martyrs, heroes, traitors and quislings—a word we owe to the politics of World War II. This book attempts to assemble the most important among this vast cast of characters, from every country and from every sphere of responsibility— or irresponsibility—and to convey not only the salient facts about the life and career of each but also the flavor of their individuality.

The Routledge Who's Who in Military History looks at those men and women who have shaped the course of war. It concentrates on all those periods about which the reader is likely to want information - the eighteenth-century wars in Europe, the American Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars and the major conflicts of the nineteenth-century. There is full coverage of the First and Second World Wars, and the many post-war struggles up to and including the Gulf War. It provides:* detailed biographies of the most interesting and important figures in military history from about 1450 to the present day* a series of maps showing the main theatres of war* a glossary of common words and phrases* an accessible and user-friendly A-Z layoutThe Routledge Who's Who in Military History will be a unique and invaluable source of information for the student and general reader alike.

The Routledge Who's Who in Military History looks at those men and women who have shaped the course of war. It concentrates on all those periods about which the reader is likely to want information - the eighteenth-century wars in Europe, the American Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars and the major conflicts of the nineteenth-century. There is full coverage of the First and Second World Wars, and the many post-war struggles up to and including the Gulf War. It provides:* detailed biographies of the most interesting and important figures in military history from about 1450 to the present day* a series of maps showing the main theatres of war* a glossary of common words and phrases* an accessible and user-friendly A-Z layoutThe Routledge Who's Who in Military History will be a unique and invaluable source of information for the student and general reader alike.

The Routledge Who's Who in Military History looks at those men and women who have shaped the course of war. It concentrates on all those periods about which the reader is likely to want information - the eighteenth-century wars in Europe, the American Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars and the major conflicts of the nineteenth-century. There is full coverage of the First and Second World Wars, and the many post-war struggles up to and including the Gulf War. It provides:* detailed biographies of the most interesting and important figures in military history from about 1450 to the present day* a series of maps showing the main theatres of war* a glossary of common words and phrases* an accessible and user-friendly A-Z layoutThe Routledge Who's Who in Military History will be a unique and invaluable source of information for the student and general reader alike.