Richard
John Keegan's A History of Warfare
June 10, 2009 12:00 AM
I’ve just finished re-reading John Keegan’s A History of Warfare (and I’m halfway through The Face of Battle), his comprehensive sweep through military action from the earliest records up to the first Gulf War which seeks throughout to challenge the work of Carl Von Clausewitz, as set out in On War that so came to dominate the thinking of military minds in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The early chapters that cover warfare in early primitive societies can be tough as they cover chunks of social and behavioural sciences and there is a lot of conjecture but once Keegan gets to known history his analysis is much more accessible and entertaining. He neatly demonstrates how the ‘western’ way of warfare with an emphasis on face-to-face contact and seeking a definitive, bloody conclusion to engagements was so brutally effective against the ‘primitive’ more moderate, more ritualistic mode of warfare.
His main chapters, Stone covering fortifications, Flesh - the influence of the horse, Iron – phalanx warfare and knights and then Fire from gunpowder to the atomic bomb cover both technological changes and differences between practice and theory which led to the apocalyptic nature of the Cold War and beyond.
My edition ends on a hopeful note citing the first Gulf War as a positive demonstration of nations cooperating to limit the dangers of war but I would love to know what Keegan thinks now. Is he still so optimistic
So this got me thinking. If you were introducing someone to the study of military history what would be the seminal text you suggest they read?
COMMENTS
I love Keegan's "A History of Warfare", but it is tough to get through at first. I think if people stick to it, then they'll be happy they did. The early chapters covering primitive warfare tie in nicely with the later chapters. It's all an evolution and the book does a great job of showing it.
However, if I was introducing someone to the topic of "Military History", I probably would not start them off with that book. I'd try to target them with something they're already interested in. They like World War II? Give them Keegan's The Second World War. They like the Civil War? Give them Battlecry of Freedom. If I had to pick a more generalized book, I think The Face of Battle is a good one as well. I'd just tell them to start with the Agincourt chapter. If they're not hooked after that, then they may not enjoy military history.
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Well I'd go back to 1st principles - start with Thyucididies (spelling?) The Peleponnesian War, the 1st proper Military History ever written, everything else since stands comparison to it. Also Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars is a good eg of Military History written as propaganda. Also to esnure that the student of Military History never forgets that beneath the grand strategy etc you are basically talking about a brutal death on a remote battlefield for a political cause that many of wars victims didn't espouse you need to cover the classics at the sharp end - "All Quiet on the Western Front" (fiction but still a must), "The Forgotten Soldier" by Guy Sajer, "Chickenhawk" by Charles Mason (?) and odd as it might seem "Starship Troopers" by Robert Heinlein (Sci Fi - obviously but a damn good muse on the problems facing those that fight wars).
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Sorry should have added if you liked Face of Battle try Keegan's Mask of Command about military leadership. Excellent stuff.
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