by John Keegan
First published 1988
John Keegan strips away romantic notions of warfare to examine what soldiers actually experienced in three pivotal battles. He takes readers into the mud at Agincourt in 1415, where English longbowmen faced French knights. He moves to Waterloo in 1815, where Wellington's forces met Napoleon's final gambit. Finally, he analyzes the Somme in 1916, where modern industrial warfare consumed a generation. Keegan focuses on the physical realities of combat rather than grand strategy. He describes how weapons work, how men move under fire, and how fear affects decision making. The book reveals the gap between military theory and battlefield chaos. Through detailed research, Keegan shows how technology changed the nature of killing from medieval times through World War One. This study offers readers an unflinching look at the human cost of armed conflict.
Genres: history, 20th-century, war, non-fiction, military-history, academic
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: gritty, realistic
Setting: Agincourt, Somme, Waterloo
Period: 1415, 1815, 1916
Hardcover · Barrie & Jenkins
Content warnings: graphic-violence, war